Batman: Political Suicide
by Boskov01
Summary: In the middle of Gotham's Mayoral elections, Batman, Robin, Blackbat, and Oracle must work to prevent the murder of one or more of the Mayoral Candidates by the Joker, Harley Quinn, and their new henchgirl: Wild Card. Slight AU. Sequel to Slender.
1. Political Season

**Summary:** In the middle of Gotham's Mayoral elections, Batman, Robin, Blackbat, and Oracle must work to prevent the murder of one or more of the Mayoral Candidates by the Joker, Harley Quinn, and their new henchgirl: Wild Card. Slight AU. Sequel to Slender.

 **Disclaimer:** I own nothing but Wilhelmina "Wild Card" Carde and a few minor OCs.

 **A/N:** If you've read my original Batman story, Slender (it's only 8 Chapters long) then you'll have an idea of who Wild Card is. If not then here's a quick explanation. She's the niece of a one-off Batman Villain I created that used the Slender Man meme to commit kidnappings. Wild Card assisted with the abductions because of her unique case of Dependent Personality Disorder where she latches on to a single individual, originally her uncle who died on accident at the end of Slender, and was later broken out of Arkham by the Joker and Harley and has subsequently latched on to the Joker. Thus a new henchwoman was born.

Similarly I have the Arkham Verse versions of most of the characters in mind. Blackbat however uses her Batgirl costume with the "eyeless" mask. As far as the Arkham games are concerned, only Arkham Asylum is considered canon in this universe.

 **Author's Request:** I would like to take this opportunity to politely request that all reviewers refrain from making any comments on current, real world politics. I am deliberately going to avoid making any direct political references so as to remain politically neutral. My own political affiliations are irrelevant to the story so please no political commentary or questions.

* * *

 **Tuesday, November 1st  
5:15 PM  
Wayne Manor**

" _Crime, poverty, unemployment. These three things go hand in hand. No jobs means no money, and no money means the average citizen becomes more likely to commit a crime than normal. In Washington I fought against special interest groups pushing to give tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas, I pushed for additional funding for Law Enforcement, pushed for pro-job growth legislation, and I pushed for pro-Justice League legislation. Now that my time in Washington is done, I want to continue to serve the people and ask for your vote to allow me to run your fair city, Gotham. I'm Congressman John K. Hunter, and I approve this message!"_ a handsome man with short and well-groomed black hair in a blue business suit with white work shirt and red tie said over a montage of scenes while Stars and Stripes Forever played in the background before ending with a campaign logo that said "John K. Hunter for Mayor!"

"And I don't care." Tim Drake grumbled as he changed the channel. He was seated on the floor with his back against the foot of the couch in the TV room of Wayne Manor, Barbara Gordon sitting next to him, working on her laptop from her wheelchair. Cassandra Cain was curled up on the couch with a book in hand, not paying any attention to the television or anyone else for that matter.

"Don't like his policies, Tim?" Barbara asked.

"It has nothing to do with his policies. I'm just sick of all the political ads." Tim replied as Barbara shrugged.

"Okay, I can't argue with you there. I get sick of the ads too. But I will say that Hunter has my vote. I mean he had an enviable voting record in Congress, vote's non-partisan, and truly did work to stimulate job growth as well as campaigned with a pro-law enforcement agenda. Plus, he's one of the few politicians that is in favor of the Justice League and the Batman especially, so that's gotta be worth some points." Barbara replied as Tim flipped through the channels.

"I dunno. Bruce is always kinda suspicious whenever politicians come out as pro-Justice League or pro-Batman. Probably thinks that voting Pro-Batman gets them some kind of special favors." Tim replied.

"And they usually get proven wrong whenever they cross the line. I mean, remember when Congressman Jenkins voted pro-Batman and was later arrested for human trafficking?" Barbara asked, earning a blank look from Tim.

"No." he replied.

"Oh right, that was before your time. I think that was actually just before Jason joined us." Barbara said.

"What happened with that case?" Tim asked.

"Pretty straightforward. Jenkins thought that if he publically endorsed the Batman's actions, the Batman would turn a blind eye to his own. Well when Batman found evidence that Jenkins had waved a shipping container full of Cuban refugee women through customs with intent to sell them off as sex slaves, Batman confronted him. Jenkins tried to talk the Batman down but all he got was a few broken ribs, a concussion, and fifty years in state prison for his trouble." Barbara explained as Tim shrugged.

"And every day people wonder why politicians rate within the top three of the worst occupations in the country. What do you think Cass?" Tim asked but Cassandra quietly held her nose, not taking her eyes off her book.

"My thought's exactly." Tim replied as Bruce entered, sitting down in a red wingback chair.

"Gotham's political season always stirs up trouble." Bruce said as he sat down, picking up the remote and switching to the local news, the current report being outside Gotham City Hall, with Summer Gleeson standing in front of the camera.

" _With the Mayoral Election only two days away, the candidates are meeting for the final time for a final Town Hall Debate tonight at eight at Gotham City Civic Center. Our latest polls show former Congressman John Hunter by a very slim lead of point oh three percent over incumbent Mayor Hamilton Hill. Mayoral Candidate Alexander Ronson trails Hill by only point oh two percent. Pundits say that that this election is still very much up for grabs as all three candidates have a little under thirty-three percent of the vote each so tonight's debate is the last chance our candidates have to grab the votes they need to pull ahead. Summer Gleeson, Channel-."_ At this the TV was turned off. Barbara and Tim both looked at Bruce who had a grim expression on his face.

"I know that look. Something's up." Barbara said as Bruce stood up.

"There's been a surprisingly small amount of activity by the criminal element in Gotham lately. Normally election time causes an upheaval but lately all of the major criminal groups have been quiet. Even Commissioner Gordon's been able to focus on some older cases lately." Bruce said as Cassandra looked up from her book but made no kind of communication.

"Hate to say it but he's right. The last big case we had was that Slender Man case a month ago. So in other words, we're due some kind of calamity. The timing's about right." Tim said as Bruce turned and headed for one of the secret entrances to the Batcave.

"That's what worries me. Barbara, I might need you to stay on call for the next few days. Tim, Cassandra, we have work to do." Bruce said as Tim and Cassandra both got up from their seats, following him to the batcave. A few minutes later, the four were gathered around the Batcave computer, the displays showing profiles on the three mayoral candidates.

"We'll start with Mayor Hill. He's been in office for the past three terms and is generally liked well enough. Unfortunately his detractors seem to be that he's too lax on dealing with the crime in Gotham, taking a laisse faire stance on it almost." Bruce explained.

"Which works fine for us to some degree since he's not out to get us arrested." Tim commented.

"Yeah but he doesn't take any legal action on it either." Barbara added.

"Which brings us to Congressman John Hunter. Running as an Independent, contrary to his congressional party affiliations. A solid voting record. Never missed a vote, was willing to compromise on certain issues, unwilling on things like law enforcement and vigilantism which he does support." Bruce explained.

"Which, you would think, would make him a target by every member of the Rogue's Gallery. Yet none of them have attempted anything." Barbara explained.

"That we know of at least." Tim added as Bruce switched over to the third candidate.

"Alexander Ronson. A small business owner campaigning on a pro-small business, pro-job growth, anti-Batman platform." Bruce explained. Ronson was in his early forties but his hair had already turned a shade of silver. Cassandra then started tapping out a message in Morse code.

" _Know him. Owns Hardware store. Near St. Jerome's Orphanage. Nice guy."_ She said with a smile.

"Well we know who Cass is voting for." Tim commented.

"If she could vote that is." Barbara replied.

"So we have three candidates, all three of which could easily be a target for some kind of criminal scheme." Tim added.

"So what's the plan then, Bruce?" Barbara asked.

"I'm going to stake out the Town Hall Debate tonight. I suspect that with the election only two days away, there's going to be trouble. It could be today, tomorrow, or even on Election Day." Bruce said as he got up and headed for the large glass cases where the Batman, Robin, and Blackbat costumes were hung up.

* * *

 **7:57 PM  
Gotham City Civic Center  
Mayoral Town Hall Debate**

The stage in the Civic Center was set and ready to go. There were three podiums on stage in a semi-circular arrangement facing the audience, each designated with the campaign signs of the respective candidates. Mounted up the back wall of the stage was a jumbotron, initially with a waving American Flag decorating it as a default display. A moderator's desk sat front row, center of the audience facing the stage. Gotham Television and Radio personality, Jack Ryder, was already sat at the moderator's desk, having been selected to moderate the debate. The GCPD was out in force providing security. Uniformed and non-uniformed officers patrolled the center while Commissioner James Gordon stood watch from backstage, Detective Harvey Bullock approaching him.

"North and East Quadrants have reported in, Commish. All clear." Bullock reported.

"Good. I don't want anything happening that could cause a problem tonight. Has Montoya reported in yet?" Gordon asked.

"Not yet." Bullock replied. Gordon didn't respond but instead returned his attention to the stage.

"So who're you supportin' chief? Hunter?" Bullock asked, earning a soft glare from the Commissioner from over his shoulder.

"My politics are my own business, Bullock, and I'm going to keep it that way." Gordon said as Detective Renee Montoya approached.

"South and West Quadrants clear sir." Montoya reported.

"Good. Oh, one more thing. Any sign of our winged friend?" Gordon asked, Montoya shaking her head.

"Nothing."

"That doesn't mean he's not here though, or that he's not watching. In fact I'd bet my life on him being here. Alright, here we go. Order the men to keep on guard. The Candidates are taking their places." Gordon said as the Mayoral candidates emerged from backstage to a rendition of Stars and Stripes Forever, starting with Candidate Ronson, followed by Candidate Hunter, and ending with Incumbent Mayor Hill. As Jack Ryder made the opening remarks, cracking a couple jokes in the process as he was known to do, high above the audience, hiding amongst the darkened rafters knelt the Dark Knight, watching from above but so far there was nothing out of the ordinary. The crowd was full of supporters and protestors from all sides but all were fairly well behaved. Finally they got to the first question and Candidate Hunter was up first.

"Congressman Hunter, our first question goes to you. 'During your time in Congress, you openly supported the Justice League and fought for pro-Justice League legislation. If elected Mayor of Gotham City, would this sentiment also apply to Gotham's own resident meta-humans? Specifically, the Batman and his team of vigilantes, colloquially known as the Batclan?" Jack asked as Congressman Hunter merely smiled, straightening his tie.

"Absolutely it would still apply to the Batman. I am a firm believer that Gotham City needs the Batman. As Mayor of Gotham, I would personally see to it that Batman be given even greater leeway in dealing with Gotham's criminal element. At the same time, I am not placing my faith squarely on the Batman. No, our own Police Force should receive the same amount of support if not more so than the Batman. That is why, under my leadership in City Hall, the Gotham City Police Force will see at least a one-hundred percent increase in their overall annual budget, starting day one!" Hunter said amidst cheers from the audience and even several of the police officers watching the crowd, Bullock and Montoya included.

"Well said, Congressman. Candidate Ronson, your question, also pertaining to the Batman. In your campaign ads, you've condemned the actions of Commissioner Gordon for allowing Batman to run free and for not enforcing the law by giving Batman free reign. You've also vowed to re-activate Gotham's former Vigilante Task Force in an effort to track down and capture the Batman. Gotham Voters would like to know-…what the heck?!" Jack Ryder stammered as the crowd started murmuring amongst themselves in confusion as they saw the jumbotron starting to flicker a little before cutting out and going to static.

"Sorry about that folks, looks like we're having some technical hick-ups. Let's keep with the-…" Jack Ryder said before his microphone inexplicably cut out. At this, Gordon was reaching for his radio.

"I want eyes in the control room, now!" Gordon ordered, suspecting trouble.

"What's going on? What's happened to the equipment?" Mayor Hill asked one of his aides who shrugged, clueless as to what was happening. Up in the control room, the techs were scrambling to figure out what was happening just as Detective Montoya burst in.

"What's happening up here?!" she asked.

"We don't know! Something's gone wrong!" one of the techs replied before the static on the monitors and jumbotron faded away to reveal an American Flag again.

"Is it back?" one of the techs asked.

"It's not us!" another one replied. Suddenly they heard what sounded like Hail to the Chief start to play only on a pair of kazoos.

" _Truth, Justice, the American way! It's what we all assume we're voting for whenever we walk into that puny little voting booth every few years. But then one day, life takes a hard U-turn and everything goes upside down spin-a-roony and the next thing you know you're sitting in the corner with drool running down your chin. But don't worry too much about that Gotham, because here comes some real change you can go crazy to!"_ an eerily familiar voice chuckled before, bursting out from behind the American Flag, came a thin lanky man in a cliché Uncle Sam Costume, complete with the red, white, and blue top hat, only minus the beard, a contrasting yellow flower in his lapel, and carrying a walking cane with a J handle. His skin was a chalky white, lips a rosy red, hair a unique shade of fluorescent green, stained a distinct shade of yellow. It was a face all of Gotham and a good deal of the world knew very well.

The Joker

" _Hello, Gotham! It's me, your dear Candidate Joker, the Incumbent Clown Prince of Crime, here to bring you smiles and laughs to break up the monotonous doldrums of these agonizingly boring election seasons!"_ The Joker announced with a grin, the audience murmuring in fear at the sight of its most notorious supervillain. Batman immediately narrowed his eyes and but a hand to his earpiece.

"Oracle, are you seeing this?" Batman asked.

" _It's on every television channel! Running a trace now! Robin and Blackbat are getting suited up as we speak!"_ Oracle replied as the Joker continued.

" _Now you might all be wondering; what sort of campaign promises will I make? Well allow me to es'plain. Every Election Season, it's always the same thing! Months on end of campaigning, endless political ads tearing apart the opposition, kissing babies, glad-handing the constituency! And then at the end of it all, everyone walks into that booth and checks the box next to the name of the candidate they want to sit down in that big easy-chair in City Hall and decide how the city's going to go down the toilet for the next four years! So I thought, why not shake it up a bit?"_ The Joker asked, the kazoo chorus starting to lose pitch as the players started to get out of breath.

"Oracle?" Batman asked.

" _I've almost got it!"_ Oracle replied.

" _This year, my promise to Gotham is that, on November 3rd, the candidate with the most votes, will get a little something extra to smile about, a permanent smile provided by me! To put it simply, Gotham! This year, you're voting on the candidate you want to see dead!"_ The Joker declared with one of his demented laughs as the crowd's murmurs of fear got louder. The Candidates were looking at each other with a mixture of fear and worry on their face. The Joker then continued.

" _Oh and just so we have a nice clean race, any candidate that drops out will be getting a visit from my happy-go-lucky Campaign Manager and her trusty mallet, isn't that right Harley?"_ Joker asked as Harley Quinn, her cartoonishly large mallet resting on her shoulder, stepped into frame.

" _You know it, puddin'!"_ Harley replied as Joker grinned suggestively towards the camera.

" _Contrary to popular belief folks, I did not sleep with this woman. Wink!"_ Joker chuckled, Harley shifting her hips slightly with a coy smirk in the background.

" _And just so you don't get any bright ideas like postponing or cancelling the election, I've picked a very interesting running mate who will make his presence known very soon that will tell you what will happen! Oh, and before I sign off on this little campaign ad, Oh Bat~sy! I know you're watching this! I hope you're ready to have some fun and games! Oh and bring the kids with you! It's been a while since we scheduled a play date and got caught up! Let's do dinner, 'kay?! I am the Joker and I approve this message!"_ The Joker said before he burst out laughing, a hand off screen holding up a cheaply made sign reading "Joker 4 Mayor-urderer!" for a few seconds before the screen went to static. Batman narrowed his eyes as he glared at the screen.

"Oracle! The trace!" Batman said.

" _I've got it! The old Gotham News Station on North Hill Road!"_ Oracle replied, Batman immediately making for the exit to the civic center.

"Have Blackbat and Robin meet me there! I'm on my way!"

* * *

 **End Chapter 1**

 **Please R &R.**

If you would like visual references for Batman, Robin, Joker, and Harley Quinn, you can go by their Arkham Series appearances. Harley uses her Arkham City appearance though, not the nurse outfit from Arkham Asylum and not the one-piece leotard she's most commonly known for. The version of Blackbat that I envision is the same as what the Deviant Artist, Phil-Cho, has in his gallery.

Again, please refrain from making any modern-day political references in your reviews and even any private messages you send me.


	2. Wild Card

**8:12 PM  
Gotham City Outskirts**

The Batmobile was racing towards the northern edge of Gotham City, Batman at the controls. Soon he saw, in the distance, in a virtually disused part of Gotham, an old five story building with a broadcast satellite dish on the roof. The Gotham News Station had moved out of this building some five years ago to a new building near the center of Gotham and so the old station had sat abandoned since then.

Across the front of the building, rows of dilapidated red-white-and-blue bunting were strung up beneath the windows and a large banner read "Joker-4-Mayor-dererer Campaign Headquarters." The Batmobile came to a stop nearly a block away, the Batman ejecting several dozen feet straight into the air before he opened his cape, gliding towards the entrance and landing at the front door. A cardboard cutout of the Joker in his Uncle Sam costume stood just inside the door in the typical Uncle Sam "I-want-YOU" pose. Batman opened the door cautiously but no traps went off as he stepped inside.

The lobby of the old news station was largely dilapidated. The old marble topped reception counter had a drop cloth thrown over it and a poster of the Joker in the Uncle Sam costume and pose reading "I want YOU to go CRAZY!" He made his way up the stairs towards he next floor but all it had was a mannequin dressed in the Joker's usual purple suit, vest, and shirt combo with a hand painted smile on it, propped up in a chair at the top of the stairs, a sign in its lap with an arrow pointing up and written "Candidate Joker's Office – 5th Floor." The arms and legs of the mannequin were also unusually long too. The rest of the floor was wide open office space for cubicles with only an elevator, the stairs, and a men and women's restroom located near the center and had been clearly abandoned for several years.

Batman scowled at the mannequin before turning and resuming his gradual climb up the stairs, not noticing the mannequin's head turn slowly towards him, watching him head up to the next floor. The third floor was similarly vacant only it had the abandoned and gutted offices for the news anchors and staff. Another poster of the Joker was hung up on the back of a chair only this time it read "I want YOU to go LOONY!" The fourth floor contained the empty editing and A/V rooms where all the cameras had been stored. A sign with an arrow pointing up the stairs read "Almost there!"

Finally, Batman reached the fifth floor, the broadcasting room where the old anchor desk once sat. The painted backdrop of the Gotham City skyline still remained but off to one side was the torn open American Flag that the Joker had burst through in the opening of his surprise broadcast at the debate. The camera and lighting equipment, the cheap title card, a pair of discarded plastic kazoos, an old television monitor, and a darkened production booth still remained from when the Joker had been there. Batman immediately activated his cowl's Detective Mode, looking around for traces of where the Joker might have gone or might be now. As he looked around, he unknowingly tripped a laser light sensor which caused the TV Monitor to turn on, depicting Harley Quinn with her hair down in a black and red dress suit with a small four red diamond cluster in her lapel sitting behind an anchor desk in front of the backdrop, holding a sheaf of papers in front of her.

" _Ah-hem! Tonight on the Nightly Snooze, the Dark Knight tries to find the great Mista' J, and send him back to Arkham before Mista' J can fulfill his campaign promises. We now go to our intrepid field reporta', Mista' J. O. Ker, do ya hear me pud-er-I-mean Mista' Ker?"_ Harley asked as the camera panned over towards the Joker who stood in front of the blacked out windows of the production booth, wearing his usual purple suit, vest, and shirt combo.

" _Thank you, Harley! It would appear that the Batman has very foolishly come to crash our broadcast! Sorry Bats! Too little too late! Oh but don't worry, I left a fun little surprise, just for you Batman! Don't worry, it's not the blowey-uppy kind. It's more of the, leave-the-bat-in-a-pool-of-his-own-blood kind."_ The Joker said with a dark grin as Batman felt his heart starting to race, a sense of panic trying to overtake him, sweat starting to run from beneath his mask.

" _You probably are feeling my little gift right now! Feeling a little scared are you Bats? A little difficulty keeping a clear head? Probably a need to change your bat-briefs for some reason?"_ Joker asked coyly, still grinning.

" _They could be Bat-Boxahs, Mista' J!"_ Harley chimed in from off-screen.

" _Well whatever they are, they probably need some changin' right now but you don't know why. Fact is, I wouldn't breathe too deeply if I were you Batsy. Because the moment this TV turned on, the entire building started filling up with gas! So now it's time to play my favorite game!_ _What-Gas-Is-Batman-Breathing?!_ _Anyone care to take a guess?"_ Joker asked, Batman bracing himself against a support column, fumbling to retrieve his gas mask from his utility belt, not noticing the tall and lanky figure with inhumanly long arms step into the room behind him.

" _Oh-oh-oh! I know Uncle J!"_ a third voice exclaimed off-screen. This voice belonged to a younger female. Joker merely grinned.

" _That voice you hear, Batman, is the voice of the latest addition to my jolly little Joker Family. Allow me to introduce you to the person likely sneaking up on you at this very moment! Oh and I should warn you, Bats, she's not happy with you!"_ Joker said before descending into giggles as Batman glanced over his shoulder to see the figure rearing back a metal baseball bat. Batman leapt forward, turning to see the figure reach for its mask, pulling it off to unveil a grinning teenaged girl with a Cruella De'Vil hairstyle of bright red and blue put up in two pigtails like Harley's. She had white clown makeup on her face, blue and red eyeliner that mirrored her hair, red Joker lips. Batman recognized her immediately.

"Carde! Wilhelmina Carde! The Slender Woman!" Batman grunted as the girl grinned madly as the recording of Joker continued.

" _That's right, Bats! The Slender Woman herself! Wilhelmina Carde, or as I call her, Wild Card!"_ Joker said as Carde giggled insanely before ripping off the Joker suit to reveal a tight blue and red leather brassier, blue and red leather arm braces inside of a pair of arm extenders while she wore a low pair of tight leather blue and red pants, black and red boots, and a pair of spring stilts.

" _Oh Willy, do your Uncle Joker and Auntie Harley proud and give us a rousing good game of Whack-a-Bat! Oh and Batman, the correct answer was: Slender Gas!"_ Joker laughed dementedly as the deranged teenager's grin widened and immediately took a swing at Batman who ducked a swing but staggered out of fear, resisting the urge to flee. He reached for his emergency antigen injector to reduce the effects of the gas but was dealt a vicious blow to the back.

"Oops. I think that one might've bruised his spine." Wild Card said, spinning her bat around while prancing around on her stilts. Batman staggered to climb to his feet as Carde raised her bat again, preparing to strike him again but Batman quickly rolled to one side, narrowly dodging her swing which struck the ground with a loud metal clunk as it hit the concrete floor. Carde grinned anyway as she swung her bat across, striking him in the arm, Batman almost too disoriented by fear from the Slender Gas to fight back.

"Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho, it looks like the big-ol' Bat is too afraid to hit a girl." Carde said, taking a deep breath of the gas filled air, grinning with an excited shiver that ran down her spine.

"That's the thing about Slender Gas, Batman. Something my uncle discovered before you let him die a month ago, Slender Gas will usually make you afraid, but in rare cases like me, it's like breathing pure adrenaline!" She said before she started painfully prodding Batman in the stomach with her bat, a wild look in her eyes. She then raised her bat to deliver a particularly vicious blow but when she swung down, Batman threw a smoke pellet into her face, causing her to cry out in alarm as the pellet exploded, causing her to drop the bat and stagger backwards through the smoke, giving Batman enough time to inject himself with the antigen which quickly dispelled a lot of his fear. By the time Carde had recovered and the smoke dissipated, Batman was on his feet and ready to fight her.

"Aww, no fun B-Man! You took the antidote! Oh well, I still love that high I get from this stuff!" she said, still with a wild eyed grin. Before she could move however the windows into the room exploded, Robin and Blackbat rappelling into the room, gas masks already in place.

"Sorry to be a buzzkill then!" Robin said but Carde's grin widened.

"Oh but you're not killing my buzz! In fact, having all three of you here is only heightening it! A little parting gift from the new and improved Joker Family! Ciao!" Carde said as she twisted something in both arm extenders before dropping them, causing the darkened glass in the production booth to shatter, revealing that the entire booth had been filled to the brim with explosives. The Batclan saw the explosives and froze as they saw the timer on the explosives start counting down from five seconds.

"Toodle-ooh!" Carde chortled as she tossed a grenade shaped like a black cartoon cherry bomb at the backdrop wall, the wall exploding and leaving a hole to allow her to escape through while the Batclan raced out the shattered windows, gliding across to a vacant lot across the street. They waited ten seconds before they realized the bombs hadn't gone off. They turned back to see several large banners drop from the upstairs windows reading "Boom!" At the same time, they saw a helicopter in Joker Green and Purple taking off from on top of the building, flying off into the sky with Wild Card waving a cheery farewell and Harley Quinn at the controls, both laughing maniacally as they flew off into the moonlight.

"Ugh, those fake explosives really get on my ne-!" Robin said before the entire upstairs floor of the building exploded followed by the other four floors, the Batclan quickly diving for cover from the explosions. Once the explosions had died down, the three looked up to see the building had collapsed, practically demolished and burning.

" _You were saying?"_ Blackbat asked by poking Robin in the shoulder rhythmically in Morse code.

"Stop poking me! And was that my imagination or was that two Harley Quinns in the chopper?" Robin asked, confused.

" _U 2?"_ Blackbat tapped out in Morse code only this time with a gauntlet equipped tone emitter.

"It's your old friend, Wilhelmina Carde from the Slender Man case a month ago. The Joker broke her out of Arkham just yesterday." Batman replied as Robin groaned.

"Oye I thought we'd seen the last of her!" Robin grumbled.

"I'm more concerned about where the Joker is. He managed to flee the scene before I arrived and had Wild Card holed up and waiting for me to arrive." Batman explained.

"Wild Card? Oh how original." Robin said, sarcastically. Blackbat nodding in agreement.

"The Joker's given us the slip for tonight. We'll need to make sure the candidates are safe for now. Oracle, what's their location?" Batman asked into the radio.

" _The Commissioner's got them together still at the Civic Center. Nothing happened after you left. Everyone's safe. A little rattled but safe."_ Oracle said as Batman pressed a button on his utility belt.

"Ask the Commissioner to stall them until I get there. I have a few questions I need to ask them." Batman said as the Batmobile rounded a corner, the canopy already opened as the Batmobile rolled up and stopped next to them, the three climbing in with Batman at the wheel, Robin riding shotgun, and Blackbat riding in the back.

" _I'll try but I don't know how long he can keep them there."_ Oracle replied.

"He will, trust me, I know he will." Batman replied as the canopy closed. The Batmobile then tore off down the streets back towards the Civic Center.

* * *

 **8:49 PM  
Gotham Civic Center – Auditorium.**

"This is an outrage! The Joker threatening to kill me after I win the election!" Alex Ronson said angrily. The crowds had left as soon as the Joker's broadcast had ended, leaving only the police that were already there, the three candidates, and some of their staff, the Commissioner and Detectives Bullock and Montoya.

"That's assumin' you win, Mr. Ronson." Harvey Bullock replied.

"Harv!" Montoya snapped, embarrassed at her partner's lack of tact.

"This is simply one of the Joker's empty threats. I have the utmost confidence that the Batman and the GCPD's finest will resolve the issue without incident." Congressman Hunter said with a confident air.

"Empty or not, any threat from the Joker should be, and always is, taken very seriously by the GCPD. I'm ordering around the clock protection for all three of you and I strongly encourage you to consider avoiding any public appearances until Election Day." Gordon said.

"Or we simply postpone the election until that lunatic is back in Arkham!" Ronson suggested.

"That would be the biggest mistake you could make, Mr. Ronson." A voice said from nearby. They all turned to see Batman descend from overhead, landing near them, his cape pulled around him at the front.

"Commissioner, I demand the Batman be removed from this building immediately!" Ronson ordered, Gordon glaring at him.

"You're not mayor yet, Mr. Ronson. Besides, Batman probably is your best line of defense against the Joker." Gordon said, earning a scowl from Ronson. Hunter on the other hand eagerly stepped forward with a hand extended.

"Batman, Congressman Hunter. It is a privilege to shake your hand." Hunter said but Batman merely stared at him. Hunter wasn't offended by the refusal of the handshake and merely shrugged, putting his hands behind his back.

"So, Batman, did you track down where the Joker sent that broadcast?" Gordon asked, Batman turning towards him.

"I did but he was ready for us. He's taken on some kind of an apprentice. The girl from the Slender Man abductions last month. She's now entirely his devoted servant." Batman said as Gordon sighed.

"Oh great. From what you were telling me about her, he might as well have some kind of fanatical zealot on his payroll." Gordon said as Batman gave a nod.

"And that is precisely what he has. He calls her Wild Card." Batman replied.

"Which is why we need to postpone the elections until the GCPD apprehends the menace!" Ronson said as Batman turned back to him.

"In his broadcast, the Joker said he'd met someone who would insure that the election continued as scheduled. At first I thought it was Wild Card but now I'm not so sure." Batman said as Hill scratched the side of his head.

"Balderdash! Only the governor has the power to suspend a city election! I have every intention to call him as soon as I get home and request the suspension until the situation is under control." Hill said but Gordon was clearly reluctant.

"Not until we have all the facts, Mayor." Gordon said. Batman's cowl radio suddenly clicked on.

" _Batman! Are you near a television?!"_ Oracle asked.

"What's going on, Oracle?" Batman asked, silencing the others.

" _Joker's partner's made his appearance. You're not going to believe this! Tune into the Channel 7 News! Hurry!"_ Oracle said as Batman turned towards the TV Broadcast booths that had been setup in the stadium, flipping on the TV and quickly changing it to channel 7. On the screen was a red backdrop with a large letter A in white within a large round white circle. A filtered and distorted voice then started speaking.

" _Citizens of Gotham! We the people have been cowed and cullied for too long by corrupt self-serving politicians! Now Gotham stands upon the brink of electing one of three uniquely corrupt individuals to serving Gotham as its Mayor. The people of Gotham will have been cowed and intimidated by corporate and criminal influences to elect the candidate that will give the most power to their corporate masters. But not this year."_ Suddenly, a man in a large red hooded polar suit with a pale white mask, black trousers, a belt full of grenades, and an armband with the same Circle A logo on the left arm stepped out in front of the camera.

" _People of Gotham, I am Anarky, and this year, the Joker has promised to assassinate the winning candidate! We will hold this assassination high as an example to the world that we will not allow corporations and corrupt politicians to rule over us any further! We will make the people choose who dies as the winning candidate will be the one most heavily under the thumb of the elite! We have planted a bomb in a random location somewhere in Gotham. If these elections are postponed or canceled, or if the Batman attempts to interfere and prevent the Joker's execution of the winning candidate, we will detonate the bomb! We will move the bomb to a random location each night so we are expecting every citizen of Gotham to do their civic duty and vote. If voter turnout is below last year's, we detonate the bomb. Embrace the Anarchy!"_ The man said before the video cut to static, cutting back to the news station.

"Oracle?" Batman asked.

" _The feed came directly from the news station!"_ Oracle said as Batman turned and started for the exit.

"Anarky? That mad bomber?! I thought he was in jail!" Mayor Hill asked.

"He is, so is the second Anarky. Batman's helped us take down two of them. Both of the Anarkys we've taken down were separate people. Different motivations, same goals, same insane vendetta against the government." Gordon explained.

"Then I suggest Batman go and-…" Congressman Hunter said but paused when he noticed that the Batman had vanished.

"Where'd he go?" Ronson asked, confused.

"Who knows? He just does that." Gordon sighed.

"Didn't you hear Anarky? He warned that if the Batman got involved, he'd detonate a bomb! Batman's going to get a lot of innocent people killed!" Ronson said, mildly panicked.

"Have faith, Mr. Ronson. If anything, Batman is our only hope of all three of us getting out of this alive." Congressman Hunter said with a confident air.

"I'm always hesitant to trust the Batman but in this case, I share Mr. Ronson's reluctance to let him run free. I'd rather we let Batman simply intercept the Joker after the election." Hill suggested.

"You might prefer it but that's not going to stop the Batman. I can't predict what he's going to do but I trust him to resolve this better than anyone." Gordon said, reassuringly.

* * *

 **End Chapter 2**

 **Please R &R.**

I'm kinda envisioning Wild Card almost like the Margot Robbie version of Harley Quinn only younger, non-acid bleached, and wearing clothes similar to the Arkham City Harley Costume. A great reference would be to look up the LEGO Minifigure for the Suicide Squad version of Harley Quinn and use that as a reference for Wild Card's color scheme and appearance except with a leather top instead of a corset. Harley, as stated before, uses her Arkham City attire. Her Arkham Knight attire is also a good alternative. I'm not picky there.


	3. Mall of Anarky

**9:02 PM  
Gotham News Station**

"I want to know how this Anarky clown preempted our broadcast?! Someone get me some answers!" the News Director of the Gotham News screamed into the bullpen of cubicles where the station employees were scrambling to figure out the source of the preemption. Vicki Vale, one of the News Anchors, then approached him.

"Chief, I just talked to Jack Ryder. He said that only our network had the Anarky Broadcast. The other networks are just now rerunning it!" Vicki reported as the director groaned.

"And you're not in the chair reporting on it because…?" the director asked.

"Because the story is here, chief, that's why. Two recognized members of the Rogue's Gallery attacking Gotham over a Mayoral Election is national news!" Vicki replied as the director groaned again.

"Whatever but if we lose viewers because we weren't reporting the news, you're getting relegated to traffic duty!" the director grumbled as Vicki merely smirked, watching him stalk off. She then started up the stairs to where the broadcast equipment was located. The equipment was behind a wall of glass. Using her ID Card, she entered the room and started looking carefully around, checking any ports and plugs that were normally empty for any kind of tampering. Finally she found something. A small red device plugged into the side of one of their main broadcast transmitters. This caused her to grin and snap a picture of the device with her phone. She started to turn around but when she did, she came face to face with the Batman.

"Oh! Geez! You scared me Batman, but then again that is kinda the point. Here to give an interview? You owe me about a dozen by now." Vicki commented but Batman remained silent, examining the device.

"Where were you when Anarky made his broadcast?" Batman asked as Vicki shrugged.

"Sitting at the anchor desk in front of an audience of six and a half million viewers, not counting national viewership or the production crew." Vicki replied.

"Anyone leave after the broadcast?" Batman asked.

"Dunno. But I know how you can find out. Everyone who comes into the station has to have an ID Badge and scan it in order to even so much as open the front doors." Vicki replied as Batman put a hand to his cowl.

"Blackbat?" he asked. Down in the station's security office, the two guards sitting and watching the monitors didn't notice the air vent near the wall open up, a black gloved hand reaching out with a small usb device, and plug the device into the back of one of the security computers before slipping back into the vent. Back up in the broadcast equipment room, Batman heard a deadpan and autonomous feminine voice start speaking.

" _Device planted."_ Blackbat replied using a text-to-speech program for their suit communicators.

"Oracle, you're good to go." Batman said into the radio.

" _On it. Checking recent key usage logs."_ Oracle replied.

"So what's this device here?" Vicki asked as Batman looked at the device on the broadcast equipment.

"It's a wireless relay. It allows point-to-point wireless remote access to whatever system it's plugged into." Batman explained.

"So basically anyone with Wi-Fi and a computer could hack into our systems with this thing." Vicki said as Batman scanned the device with his cowl's Detective Mode.

"Not exactly. The range on these devices is relatively short and this room is near one of the outside corners of the building. Someone had to plant the device inside so that someone on the outside could hack in." Batman explained before reaching in and pulling the device out from the plug.

"Won't that alert whoever's plugged in that they've been caught?" Vicki asked but Batman pocketed the device.

"No. They effectively hacked the system and ran once the broadcast was finished. The device was expendable." Batman replied as Vicki gave a slight nod of understanding, looking into her purse to look for her recording device.

"Any chance it can lead you to our hacker?" she asked, pulling the recorder from her purse but when she looked up, Batman was gone.

…

Batman, Blackbat, and Robin were seated in the Batmobile as it tore through the Gotham Streets, Blackbat had the wireless relay plugged into a small black device with the batman insignia on it and a usb port.

"Okay so what are we doing with this thing?" Robin asked, referring to the device.

"This type of wireless relay has a limited range and always requires a twin device plugged into the source computer. We can patch the device into the GPS unit in the Batmobile and zero in on the partner device." Batman said as the GPS in the Batmobile activated, highlighting a spot near the Cyrus Pinkney Museum.

"And we've got them!" Robin said with a smirk.

* * *

 **9:13 PM  
Outside the Cyrus Pinkney Museum**

A young woman with short brown hair and wearing glasses had just parked her car outside the museum where three other people stood waiting, one of them wearing an Anarky armband.

"We saw the broadcast. Good work." One of them said, leaning in the car window.

"Thanks. If it helps Anarky, then I'm glad I could help." The woman said with a smirk. The crook then heard a strange pinging sound coming from the backseat of the car. He looked and saw the girl's laptop sitting open on the backseat, an alert flashing on the screen.

"Hey, should your machine be doing that?" the crook asked.

"What?" she asked, looking back and freezing in disbelief.

"No-no-no-no-no! This shouldn't be happening. It's impossible!" She exclaimed before a black figure dropped down behind two of the thugs and bashed their heads together, knocking them out while the one sticking his head inside the girl's windows was dragged out and had his head bashed against the roof, knocking him out. The girl quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and started to flee only to come face to mask with Blackbat who simply stood with her arms crossed in front of her. The girl gasped in fear and backed away, bumping into Robin who smirked.

"Y-Y-You wouldn't hit a girl with glasses would you?" she asked fearfully, Robin noticing the Gotham News Access Badge dangling from her neck.

"Depends on the girl. Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Killer Frost, definitely. I might yank Catwoman's tail but that's something else entirely. But you? Nah. I wouldn't hit ya…but she definitely will." Robin said, pointing to Blackbat who cracked her knuckles. The girl looked at Blackbat with definite fear.

"W-W-What do you want?" she asked, trembling.

"Where did Anarky plant his bomb for tonight?" Batman asked as he approached.

"I-I-I don't know, honest! I was just told to hack the studio feed and broadcast Anarky's message. I have no idea where Anarky set up the bomb!" she explained. As she did, Blackbat noticed something inside the crooks' car which was parked ahead of them. She pulled back her two-part mask, the part covering her eyes an upper nose first followed by the part covering her mouth, a domino mask covering her eyes as she peered inside the car.

"We don't have time to argue this! People's lives are at risk!" Robin said before they both heard Blackbat let out a shrill whistle. They both turned to see her pull an employee parking pass for Jezebel Plaza, Gotham City's only Outlet Mall, from the rearview mirror.

"Looks like we have a potential bomb site." Robin commented as the girl seemed to relax.

"So I'm free to go, right?" she asked before having a pair of handcuffs slapped onto her wrists.

* * *

 **9:26 PM  
Jezebel Plaza Shopping Mall**

Jezebel Plaza was your typical shopping mall. The mall closed early every Tuesday during the tourist off seasons and so the place was dark and the parking lot, empty. However, as the Batmobile rolled up to the north entrance of the mall, they could tell something was amiss.

"There. Those doors shouldn't be open." Batman said as they motioned towards the large doors leading into the food court from the outside.

"That's where I'd infiltrate." Robin commented.

" _No surprise."_ Blackbat commented on her voice emulator as Batman parked the Batmobile, the three climbing out and heading into the mall. As soon as they entered the mall, a set of security gates dropped down behind them, trapping them inside, the mall lights flickering on while a jaunty jingle came on over the Mall PA System.

" _Attention shoppers! Tonight we have a three for one special on flying rodents in the food court! Get 'em while they're hot!"_ Harley Quinn's voice could be heard yelling over the speakers. Almost instantly a team of clown mask wearing thugs emerged from behind the counters at the various restaraunts, all of them carrying clubs, bats, iron bars, or crowbars, leaping over the counters and running towards the Batclan. Robin immediately pulled his bo-staff while Blackbat and Batman dropped into fighting stances. Before the first of the thugs could reach them however, Batman fired his grapple gun into the air, grappling onto the ceiling and swinging over the goons heads, distracting most of them and giving Robin and Blackbat an opening to deliver some vicious blows to a couple of them before Batman landed and grabbed a chair near one of the kiosks, throwing it at a group of approaching thugs, knocking two of them to the ground while two more stepped around and swung at the Batman but was stunned when Batman caught the iron bar he'd been using mid-swing, yanking him forward just in time to take a crack to the head meant for Batman by a golf club wielding goon.

"Huh?!" the goon yelped when he realized he'd clocked the wrong guy but looked up to see a gloved fist flying straight at him. At the same time, Robin and Blackbat were easily evading the goons' attacks by weaving in between the tables and chairs of the food court. The tables and chairs were all bolted down and couldn't be moved so they were able to easily weave between them, knowing the goons couldn't just overturn the furniture to get at them. Finally, Cassandra rolled forward past one goon, popping up between him and another with a knee to the chin of one and a punch to the face of the other before putting her arm around the neck of the goon behind her, the one she had punched, and proceeded to pull him into a jumping cutter from out of nowhere. Robin, meanwhile, had his bo-staff at the ready before leaping up onto a table, popping open the built-in bullet shield, and bashing the closest goon in the head. He then proceeded to dive atop the second, sandwiching him beneath his weight and the floor, leaping up, grabbing the third by the arm and, while riding the momentum from his leap, down onto the second before landing back down on the third, kicking him in the back of the head. All the goons were down for the count and the Batclan quickly regrouped.

"Any ideas on where we should start looking for Anarky's bomb?" Robin asked, having recovered his bo-staff.

"We should check the security office. It's likely to have picked them up on surveillance while they were planting it." Batman ordered, the trio racing off into the mall. As they ran, the TV Advertising monitors scattered throughout the mall suddenly came on with a purple, yellow, and cyan blue variation of the American flag waving in the background and the Joker's face in place of the fifty stars while a kazoo rendition of national anthem played in the background, Joker walking onto the screen.

" _So you managed to survive your little encounter with my little Wild Card, eh? To be honest I quite expected that. I didn't think the kid could pull it off on her own, especially not on her first try. But she did give you some nice bruises though!"_ Joker said as with a grin, the batclan running towards mall security.

" _So you might be wondering, 'when did the Joker sign up with the mad bomber?' It's actually a funny story!_ _He_ _came to_ _me_ _! Crazy, right?! I tell him I'm going to kill the winning mayor, and he says he'll provide the bombs to keep you busy, Bats! It's kinda nice not to have to use your own bombs for a change. Only downside is there's not as much confetti and streamers with his bombs, but just as much boom!"_ Joker commented as the batclan arrived in the security office, only to find the monitors smashed and equipment destroyed. The night guards were lying dead on the floor with hideous grins on their faces. Gassed with lethal doses of Smile-X.

"Damn it he saw us coming!" Robin groaned.

"Back into the mall! Set your cowl scanners to scan for explosive compounds! Go!" Batman ordered, the three turning and running back into the mall. As they exited the security office, their scanners picked up something in one of the stores.

"There, that clothing store! Hillman's!" Robin exclaimed, the three running inside. The store was a menswear store specializing in suits, shirts, ties, tuxedo rental, and other gentlemen's apparel. To the naked eye there wasn't a bomb visible but beneath two horizontal display tables and beneath the checkout counter were several bombs tagged with Anarky symbols. The trio immediately went for the bombs, Blackbat and Robin taking the two bombs hidden under the displays while Batman went for the one under the register.

"The yield in these bombs combined could probably level the entire mall. No pressure." Robin muttered as he set to work disarming the bomb. Suddenly the TVs outside in the mall clicked back on but this time it was Anarky.

" _I warned you, Batman! I warned you not to get involved! I might not always have agreed with the Joker's motives, but our goals are aligned. I'm giving you this one chance to cease your actions and allow the Joker to carry out his intended promise. Gotham City is corrupt and it needs leadership that will not bow to the corporations or to an already corrupt administration! Gotham is in need of purging and if we must destroy a few buildings and kill a few corrupt officials to wipe away the blight upon this city, then we will do so. Back away Batman! Embrace the Anarchy!"_ Anarky ordered but Batman didn't stop. The Joker then chimed in over the PA system.

" _Hey, Harley, why don't we spread some anarchy of our own?!"_ Joker asked with a chuckle.

"Sure thing, Mista' J! Come on, Card, it's time to go shoppin'!" Harley could be heard saying but her voice was coming in quite clearly and too close. Robin looked up from his bomb in time to see Harley and Wild Card running into the store, Harley with her mallet and Card with her baseball bat.

"Incoming!" Robin exclaimed as he and Blackbat leapt up from their explosives, quickly moving to intercept the two Joker Henchwomen, leaving Batman to work on his bomb alone. Blackbat was going up against Wild Card alone, ducking her swings with the baseball bat while Robin was dodging Harley Quinn's wild strikes with her mallet. Blackbat managed to sidestep one swing from Wild Card's bat while pulling a small gun from her belt, firing the gun at Card which fired a pair of sharp spikes with a strong black cable between them, pinning Carde's left arm against a nearby retail cart in the center of the walkway. Blackbat charged in to attack but Card merely grinned and plowed both feet into Blackbat's chest, sending her staggering back into a display planter. At the same time, Robin had sidestepped a downward swing from Quinn before stepping up onto the hammer and leaping into the air, landing down atop the deranged psychiatrist who grinned up at him.

"Ya tryin' to get rough with me, bird brain?" she asked, earning a scowl from Robin.

"You're not my type." He replied simply.

"Too bad!" she replied, quickly wrapping her legs around his waist and rolling so that she was now on top of him, her hands to his throat.

"Sing lil' birdy! Sing!" she yelled cheerily before Robin kicked her off, throwing her through the display window of a Disney Store, Robin leaping up and charging after her. Batman had defused the bomb under the counter and was just finishing the last bomb when Anarky came on over the televisions again.

" _I know you've defused one of my bombs already Batman! You've officially interfered, and unlike the bloated and self-serving politicians the Joker has promised to execute, I keep my promises!"_ Anarky said, raising a detonator in his hand and jamming his thumb down onto the button. Instantly a countdown timer on the bombs started ticking down from thirty seconds. Batman didn't stop, defusing the second bomb and quickly moving to the third but there wasn't enough time to defuse this one. He checked for motion sensors and found none, grabbing the bomb while prepping an explosive batarang, throwing it into the air where it exploded against the skylights over the mall. He quickly grappled up through the hole, landing safely on the roof and pressing a series of buttons on his utility belt. From the parking lot, the batmobile lit up before a large black object burst up from a storage compartment on the back. The object suddenly unfurled itself in midair, the Bat-Glider, and fired up a series of booster rockets, the glider flying towards Batman who was just finishing putting a taught cable around the bomb. Batman turned just as the glider came flying low over the mall roof straight towards him. Just as the glider looked like it was going to miss him, he managed to snag the bomb to the glider, the glider suddenly pulling up, flying high into the sky as Batman leapt back down through the shattered skylight.

"Get down!" Batman yelled, Robin and Blackbat taking shelter a split second before the bomb exploded high above the mall, the concussive shockwave from the blast shattering almost every single skylight in the mall, sending a shower of glass raining down into the mall. As the Batclan emerged from their cover spots, they looked around, searching for a sign of the Joker's Henchwomen. Robin looked inside the Disney Store but saw a door to the stockroom standing open. Similarly, they heard the fire alarm going off as the emergency exit door was used.

"Should we go after them?" Robin asked.

"Let them go. They'll have a getaway plan in place. They'll be long gone before we can reach them." Batman said as he turned back towards the Hillman's store.

"Any idea why the bomb was set here in the mall?" Robin asked as Blackbat gave a nod.

" _Capitalism."_ She said in ASL.

"Oh right. A mall would be symbolic of corporate consumerism. Right up Anarky's street." Robin said as Batman looked the Hillman's store over.

"But why this particular store? The store isn't near the center of the mall. If Anarky wanted to destroy the mall, he'd want to plant it in the center to maximize the damage. Instead he targets this store." Batman said as the three looked around.

"Don't suppose it's because Hill is the name of one of the candidates is it?" Robin asked.

"Possibly. There must be something here that connects Anarky to this store." Batman said as they looked around. After a couple minutes of searching, Robin was checking the register bomb itself when he found a piece of paper attached to the bomb with an Anarky symbol on it.

"I think I've got something." Robin said as they approached.

"Be careful. The bomb is defused but there might be another detonation mechanism." Batman said, quickly analyzing the bomb but found nothing else. He then snipped the page free from the bomb, Robin unfolding it to reveal a strange verse which read...

" _The Hill, the Hunter, and the Puppet. The three competitors for death. We know their crimes and the voice of the people shall be heard! The Hill of False Accusations where innocent men are sent to jail for the crime of exercising their1st amendment rights! If reelected, he will be executed for his perjury."_

"This must explain the link between Mayor Hill and the motive Anarky might have against him." Batman said as he scanned the information on the tag into the Batcave computer through his cowl.

"Oracle, I want you to look into Mayor Hill's background. Look for anything involving protests or anything that might provide a motive for Anarky. If it involves the Hillman's clothing chain, flag it for review." Batman said into the comlinks.

" _Will do. GCFD is responding to the explosion. Police aren't far behind. Any casualties?"_ Oracle asked.

"Only a few security guards but they were dead long before we got here. We're returning to the cave. It's unlikely that Anarky or the Joker will strike again tonight." Batman said as they started for the exit.

" _I'll keep an eye out for anything suspicious in the meantime."_ Oracle replied.

"So what's our next step?" Robin asked.

"We do some digging." Batman replied.

* * *

 **End Chapter 3.**

 **Please R &R…**

In case you didn't notice my little joke, in the early mall fight scene, Cassandra's flying cutter "from out of nowhere" is a reference to the Randy Orton "RKO from outta nowhere" meme as the RKO is a flying cutter maneuver in Pro-Wrestling.


	4. Off the Beatin' Campaign Trail

**November 2nd  
1:32 AM  
Batcave**

Bruce Wayne, still in costume but with his cowl pulled back, sat at the computer in the Batcave, looking through some documentation on Anarky. Robin and Blackbat then approached, both unmasked.

"Okay so I'm a little confused on something. I thought Anarky was still in prison." Tim commented.

"The first and second Anarky are both still in prison. This is a new one. Unlike criminals like the Joker, Two Face, or Poison Ivy, Anarky isn't a single person but a group. The most influential member of the group assumes the identity of Anarky and makes the arrangements for their bombings and protests. Defeat one, another will eventually take his place. The first Anarky I defeated was years ago when I was first starting out, the same night I had my first encounter with the Joker. The second one was defeated years later, not long after Jason had assumed the mantle of Robin. In both cases, Anarky was an individual who had been left either disgruntled or disenfranchised by society in some way." Bruce explained as he looked through the files.

"Any leads so far?" Tim asked.

"One possible shows up. Oracle ran a search for Mayor Hill and any connections he might have to the Hillman's clothing store brand. Before he became Mayor, Hill was the prosecuting attorney against a man named Peter Weems who broke into the mall and vandalized over fifty thousand dollars' worth of merchandise in the Hillman's store, claiming that the store was guilty of outsourcing jobs to foreign countries and running sweatshops to manufacture the clothes at a lower price instead of hiring Unionized American workers. He was arrested for breaking and entering, destruction of private property, vandalism, and assaulting a police officer, and sentenced to two years in prison plus ten years' probation for his crime." Bruce explained.

"Sounds like our guy. Has a grudge against Hill so he has motive." Tim commented but Bruce wasn't sure.

"Unlikely. He has a strong alibi for the bomb in the mall. He's dead." Bruce explained, startling both of his sidekicks.

"What? Really?" Tim asked.

"After he got out of jail, Weems tried to organize a dock worker's riot in protest over the right-to-work legislation the state eventually passed. As a result, his son was killed in the rioting and Weems blamed the state for contributing to his son's death. His attorney copped an insanity plea on the basis that Weems was a paranoid schizophrenic and was sent to Arkham. He was later killed during the Joker's attempted takeover in 2009." Batman explained, pulling up a file showing a headless corpse in an orange Arkham inmate jumpsuit. Both sidekicks grimaced at the sight.

"Eugh. Let me guess, Killer Croc's handiwork?" Tim asked.

"Most likely." Bruce said as he pulled up another file on Weems.

"But I'm not ruling him out. Deaths can be faked. I should know, and Weems does fit the profile for Anarky. He was a Union Organizer whose first reaction to any perceived injustice against the working class was to strike or riot. He encouraged physical threats of violence against whatever business executives ran the companies whose workers he represented in collective bargaining negotiations. He would make outrageous demands of the companies in the negotiations and refused to budge on any of them. Even if it was one cent less than his demand, he would attempt to lead the workers into a strike over that one cent. Anyone who didn't strike was met with hostility and usually violence. Strikebreakers were shot at on more than one occasion." Bruce explained.

"Yikes. Wayne Enterprises wasn't one of those companies was it?" Tim asked but Bruce shook his head.

"No. Fortunately W.E. has been fairly good to its employees. I've made sure of that." Bruce replied.

" _14, B.P.2.W"_ Cass tapped out in Morse code. Her message translated as "Number 14th Best Place to Work."

"Fair point." Tim replied.

"So Weems, if he's still alive, would definitely have motive against Mayor Hill. There could also be motive against Congressman Hunter since he sided with the right-to-work supporters in the State Legislature. But that doesn't explain why he'd want to see Candidate Ronson killed." Bruce said as Tim looked towards Cass.

"Cass, you're a Ronson supporter. Got any ideas about why anyone would want him dead?" Tim asked but Cassandra shrugged.

"We'll pick this up tomorrow. Joker and Anarky have made their statements for today so they'll likely be laying low until tomorrow night at the earliest, preparing for tomorrow night's activities." Bruce said as he turned his chair towards them, standing up.

"One more thing. I want the two of you to be mindful whenever you go up against Wild Card. She's a former classmate of yours so it's possible she could identify either one of you. I say this more for her sake than yours." Bruce said, confusing the two.

"Hers?" Cassandra signed.

"Yes. The Joker, for his own insane reasoning, insists on preserving my anonymity. Numerous times, he's had me at his mercy and yet he has never removed my mask. Even when he killed Jason, he never peeked. Back when Dick was Robin, our identities were discovered by a pair of criminals known as Wrath and Scorn. When they announced that they would reveal our identities to the highest bidder, Joker killed them and destroyed the evidence to silence them. I fear he might do the same to Carde if she ever identifies the two of you." Bruce said as Tim and Cassandra looked at each other and nodded understandingly.

"Right. We'll be careful." Tim said as Bruce gave a nod.

"Good. Get to bed, both of you. We're going to have a long night ahead of us tomorrow." Bruce said, the two both turning and heading for the changing rooms, leaving Bruce alone in the cave although he was quickly joined by Alfred.

"This election season is going to be quite interesting, wouldn't you say sir?" Alfred asked.

"Every election season is interesting, but I could do without this kind of interesting." Bruce said, rising from his seat and pulling on his mask.

"Are you not finished for the evening sir?" Alfred asked, confused.

"There's something I need to look into. It shouldn't involve any fighting. The person I need to talk to is an ally." Bruce said as he headed for the Batmobile.

"Shall I inform Masters Tim and Cassandra of your absence?" Alfred asked.

"If you would. Let them know I'm heading to Arkham." Batman said as he climbed into the Batmobile.

* * *

 **2:12 AM  
Arkham Asylum**

Chief of Security, Aaron Cash had just returned from his nightly patrol of Arkham Asylum's various wards. He was sitting down at his desk with a cup of coffee when he heard footsteps on the floor behind him. He turned around and came face to face with the Batman.

"God! Man you've gotta stop sneakin' up on people like that Batman." Aaron said, putting his hook hand to his chest.

"I need information, Cash. A former patient killed during the Joker's rampage through the asylum in 2009. Peter Weems." Batman said as Aaron took a sip of his coffee.

"Weems…any aliases?" he asked.

"None on record. He would've been admitted by the state, diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. He was likely killed by your old friend Killer Croc." Batman explained as Cash shifted his weight uncomfortably at the mention of Killer Croc.

"What makes you say that?" Cash asked. Batman quietly produced a photograph of the headless victim. Aaron grimaced in disgust.

"Yeah, that's croc's work alright." Aaron commented, subtly pushing away his coffee mug.

"I need access to the records pertaining to the autopsy on Weems's body after the Asylum was retaken." Batman said as Aaron rose from his seat, reaching for his keyring.

"Autopsy reports are kept in the medical wing. Doc Sanchez is workin' tonight." Aaron replied, leading Batman into the asylum.

…

A few minutes later Batman, Aaron, and Doctor Maria Sanchez were in the filing room of the medical ward. Doctor Sanchez was thumbing through a drawer full of files.

"I vaguely remember that autopsy, Batman. After the Joker's rampage, there were so many dead, we had a major backlog of autopsies to perform." Sanchez replied.

"This one would've stood out. The body was headless." Batman said as Sanchez gave a grim nod.

"Mmm yes, that one would've." Sanchez mumbled until finally she found the file they were looking for.

"Ah, here we are. Oh, it looks like we might have a problem, Batman. No autopsy was performed." Sanchez reported.

"No autopsy? Come on, you've gotta be kidding me." Aaron said as Batman took the file, looking it over.

"The cause of death was believed to be self-explanatory and we were backed up at the time. We had bodies lined up in the halls out the doors." Sanchez explained as Batman closed the file.

"What happened to the corpse?" Batman asked.

"Cremated and ashes scattered over the Arkham cliffs as per asylum policy. Weems had no living relatives. He had an ex-wife but she wanted nothing to do with him so we followed policy and cremated him. If you're after DNA, we do have a couple samples of his blood on hand. Asylum procedure requires blood samples taken from all patients upon admission and prior to post-mortem, regardless of if an autopsy is performed or not." Sanchez said as Batman gave a nod.

"Doctor, I need you to analyze those blood samples. Match or no, I need the results as soon as you can get them to me. Give the results to Commissioner Gordon. I'll give him notice to expect them." Batman said, Sanchez giving a nod.

"If you insist, but what does this have to do with the election? Shouldn't you be looking into that?" Sanchez asked.

"I am." Batman replied before turning away and departing.

* * *

 **Meanwhile  
The Joker's Hideout – Undisclosed Location**

The Joker's hideout was what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse full of decaying old circus and clown facades. The Clown Prince of Crime himself was splashing some water on his chalk-white face as Harley and Wild Card approached.

"So how'd we do, puddin'? We beat up the Bat just like you asked us to." Harley said as Joker wiped off his face with a towel.

"Good work kiddo. And how're you doing slugger? First time in over a month that you went head to pointy-eared-head with the big bad bat." Joker said as he turned towards Carde who smiled.

"It was exhilarating. I only wish I could've given him a lot more." Carde said as Joker grinned.

"Glad to hear it. The bat could use a good beating now and again. Too bad that bomb didn't blow up on him, but it did give us a good lightshow." The Joker said, motioning to a nearby TV showing footage of the bomb exploding high over the mall.

"We'll get him next time." Carde commented.

"Kid, I've been trying to get the Bat for years. Killed one of his own kids, tortured that Commissioner of his, and yet he's still not snapped. Leave the bat breaking to me, kid. You just keep bruising him." Joker said, tousling her hair as he walked past.

"Wait, you killed one of his kids? Then you know who he is?" Carde asked, confused.

"Nope. Not a clue. Unlike some people, I won't name names, Harley, I don't peak inside the Christmas presents until Christmas Day." Joker said as Harley blushed although it went unnoticed due to her clown makeup.

"It was just the one time Mista' J, and I didn't hear any complainin' later on." Harley said but Carde was still confused.

"You mean, you didn't look at who Batman's kid was? Wouldn't that help you identify him? Finally unmask him?" Carde asked, causing the Joker to pause mid-step. Harley quietly stepped away from her as the Joker started to chuckle, turning towards her with one of his hideous grins.

"Unmask the Batman? Oh Willy, Willy, Willy. You're still new so allow me to es'plain the first rule of dealing with the Batman." Joker said as he approached. Before she could blink, the Joker backhanded her across the face, sending her spinning to the floor, looking up at him in fear but finding the business end of a revolver pointed in her face.

"YOU DON'T UNMASK THE BATMAN!" Joker yelled, quite angrily. Willy was terrified, staring at the pistol in fear. The Joker's snarl turned back into a grin as he knelt down to look her in the eyes.

"Do you know why I haven't unmasked the Batman? It's because that would make driving him crazy all the less fun! I mean have you seen those movies where there's always this character whose identity is always obscured? That air of mystery. If that mystery is ever revealed, then the character always seems to just fall in with the rest of the cast. They don't stand out, they're common, ordinary, uninteresting. If I ever unmask the Bat, he'll be so much less interesting so even though my plans get unraveled by the Bat, I'll never unmask him because that would just ruin the punchline. Only when he's snapped, gone whacko, pulled his underwear over his head and sings the William Tell Overture, will I finally unmask him, but until then, that mask stays on." Joker explained, still keeping the gun trained on Willy who was still fearful of the Joker.

"A-And if someone else unmasks him anyway?" Willy asked as Joker's eyes narrowed and his grin tightened. He pulled back the hammer on the revolver.

"I'd like to tell you a little story. The story of Wrath and his friend Scorn. Once upon a time, these two masked do-badders named Wrath and Scorn found out the identity of the Batman, or at least they claimed to. Don't know if they did for sure, and offered to sell the Batman's identity to the highest bidder. Well one day, a happy-go-lucky fellow with a winning smile made the highest bid for that evidence. Well the happy fellow made Wrath and Scorn so happy with all that money and he made them happier still as he'd laced the cash with something to make them laugh, made them all laugh so hard they couldn't breathe but at least they went out with a smile. And as for their evidence, it might've gotten burned to a cinder after getting so carelessly tossed into a furnace which was followed up by a few clumsily dropped sticks of dynamite. So the moral of this story kiddo is this. If you ever even so much as think about unmasking the Batman or any of his little playmates…" the Joker explained before pulling the trigger, causing Willy to flinch in fear but all she heard was a pop and the whistle of a party horn. She looked to see a flag sticking out of the end of the revolver with the word "BANG!" printed on both sides.

"…it won't be a gag gun firing off between your eyes. And that's a campaign promise." Joker said before beginning to chuckle, his chuckling evolving into his usual insane laughter.

* * *

 **End Chapter 4**


	5. Penthouse Politics

**9:13 PM  
Batcave**

Batman stood in costume, making some final adjustments to his gauntlets as Robin and Blackbat approached in costume for that evening's crime-fighting work.

"Hey, Cass made a good point a while ago. She said that regardless of if we stop the Joker and Anarky or not, this whole election's going to be rendered moot anyway. The state legislature will order a do-over due to the circumstances." Tim said, Cassandra nodding in agreement.

"I know. Likely the Joker knows this as well." Batman replied.

"Then why go through with it if he knows it's just gonna get nullified?" Tim asked.

"Because it's the Joker. It's all a joke to him. Anarky's the one to watch out for. I suspect that if we don't stop him, he'll make a bombing threat if they talk about negating the outcome of the election and calling for a do-over." Batman said as they started for the Batwing.

"Any leads on where he might be hiding?" Robin asked.

"Unknown. Commissioner Gordon and the GCPD CSI Techs found trace elements on the bomb casings found at the mall. Oracle's tapped into their system to get the results from their tests. They've also been interrogating the Anarky supporters we caught after Anarky's broadcast last night. If any of them knows his location, they'll talk." Batman said as they started to climb into the Batwing.

"Any news on if Dick will be joining us?" Robin asked.

"Nightwing's busy in Blüdhaven. We're on our own for this." Batman said as the batwing started up, the canopy closing over them.

"So where do we look first?" Robin asked.

"We wait for Joker to make the next move. Knowing him, he enjoys the attention too much to pass up an opportunity to appear on camera. He'll be making another broadcast tonight. I'd bank on it." Batman said as the Batwing screamed out of the batcave. No sooner had they left, a console next to Cassandra started beeping.

" _B.G."_ Cass tapped out in Morse code. B.G. was her way of saying Barbara Gordon/Batgirl in a hurry.

"Go ahead, Barbara." Batman said, answering the call.

" _Batman! The Joker's making his move! He's on all the channels!"_ Oracle reported.

"Talk about timing." Robin mumbled as he flipped on a monitor inside the Batwing, allowing a video stream of one of the local channels to appear. The feed showed the Gotham City Skyline for a moment as a kazoo rendition of the National Anthem started playing.

" _The City…of Gotham! And wouldn't you know it, it's an election year! What fun! NOT!"_ Joker said before stepping into frame dressed in his gaudy Uncle Sam costume. At the sight of the Joker, Batman quickly veered the Batwing towards Gotham.

" _You know, I've been grinning at you closet lunatics for years but lately my grins have been everywhere! Sometimes from a bus, on a park bench, even grinning down at you from on billboards. But every two years it's the same tired gag. Run a bunch of mean spirited ads, make some flowery speeches, and then make a few silly promises that never get kept. Just once I'd like to see someone just drop their pants for a change! I know I'm not alone in this. Especially for when Councilwoman Sandy Dimmons ran. Me~ow."_ The Joker commented with an implying grin. There was an off-screen "Ahem" presumably from Harley. Joker shifted his gaze towards her with a coy smile for a moment before looking back at the camera.

" _But this year's definitely different! Remember Gotham, you too can make a difference, by deciding which candidate lives and which candidate gets severe lead poisoning. Just remember, no backing out and no calling the whole thing off! My running mate Anarky is making sure of that. By the way, I heard that the Jezebel Plaza Mall lost a few windows last night. Must've taken some great_ _panes_ _for that to happen!"_ The Joker commented with an insane giggle. There was a collective groan from off camera between Harley and Wild Card. Robin groaned as well as did Blackbat although hers was a silent groan.

" _Oh shut up. What politician hasn't made a crummy pun during a speech before?"_ Joker grumbled to his crew before turning back to the camera.

" _Just a reminder to my opponents out there:_ _You_ _drop out,_ _I_ _drop_ _you_ _. Oh and Batsy! I hope to see you real soon! Ciao! I am the Joker and I approve this message!"_ the Joker said before descending into insane laughter, the cheap campaign card reading "Joker for Mayor-derer" being held up in front of the camera for a moment before the feed cut out.

"Oracle, did you get the trace?!" Robin asked.

" _I did but he piggybacked the signal off of at least seven different satellites. It's going to take a few minutes to sort it all out."_ Oracle said.

"Don't bother. I know exactly where he is." Batman replied, confusing his two sidekicks.

"You do? How?" Robin asked. Batman pressed a button on the console, rewinding the recording of the stream back to the beginning to where it showed the Gotham Skyline.

"Only one place in all of Gotham offers a view like that. I'd know it anywhere. I spent over a year there." Batman replied.

"Huh?" Robin asked.

"Years ago, back when I was first starting out as Batman, I built an apartment atop of the old Wayne Towers Hotel while renovations to Wayne Manor were ongoing. I operated as Batman from there. When the work was finished, I had the special modifications to the apartment removed and converted into an ordinary living space, turning the apartment into the hotel's penthouse suite. I saw that view every day for over a year. That's where the Joker is now." Batman explained as the Batwing started to approach the Wayne Towers Hotel, one of the tallest hotels in Gotham, second only to the Gotham Royal Hotel, as well as one of the tallest buildings in town. As they approached the tower, they could tell the lights were on in the penthouse.

" _Batman, I just tapped into the Hotel reservations logs. The penthouse is checked out to a Mr. Joseph Keller and a party of three. A man and two women. Sounds like the Joker alright."_ Oracle reported.

"We're almost there. Alert GCPD of the Joker's position." Batman said as he brought the Batwing in over the apartment, the Batwing having engaged noise bafflers to allow it to silently approach the penthouse. The Batwing flew in to idle over the penthouse, hovering in the air as the canopy opened, the Caped Crusader and the Batclan climbing out of the jet before leaping off the side, gliding down to land on the roof before Batman remotely transferred the Batwing to Oracle's control, sending the Batwing flying away.

The Penthouse was an art-deco themed semi-dome shaped suite with large bowing windows and a flat roof. There were sections of the apartment where, provided the curtains were all pulled back, one could see clear through the apartment. Thin decorative walls made up the rooms and only the external hallway leading from the elevator and the master bathroom were fully enclosed. Large curtains and shutters on automated tracks allowed for privacy.

Batman looked inside through the large arching windows and saw several armed Joker Goons wearing clown masks or clown makeup stalking through the apartment with SMGs or shotguns. Attempts to look inside the master bedroom were blocked as the curtains had been drawn but his cowl's detective mode allowed him to see three individuals, highlighted as orange colored skeletons with faint blue outlines of their true shapes, in the master bedroom, all three on the bed. He could tell by the pelvic bones on the outer two figures that they were females. The females were most likely Harley and Wild Card while the male sat resting with his hands behind his head in the center of the bed. Likely the Joker. Batman quietly stepped over towards where Robin and Blackbat were crouched and waiting for his signal to move. Batman quietly knelt down next to a Wayne Tech Control box near the roof where the penthouse power supply was located.

Inside the apartment, the goons were still patrolling when the lights all suddenly went out.

"Huh?!" "What happened?!" the goons asked.

"Well that was fast! Remind me to tell the manager that we have a bit of a rodent problem!" Joker could be heard commenting from the bedroom.

"You boys betta not be slackin' off out there! Mista J, Wild Card, and I ain't done yet!" Harley yelled. One of the patrolling goons was making his way towards the kitchen area when he found an unconscious goon lying near the oven.

"What the hell happened to-MUMPH!" he yelped before a black gloved hand covered his mouth from behind, the goon getting pulled into the shadows just seconds before a third rounded the corner, seeing nothing.

"Uh, Boss! I just lost sight of Laurel!" one of the goons reported.

"Want me to go look for him, Uncle Joker?" Carde could be heard asking.

"No need. Knowing Batso, he's probably stringing Laurel, Hardy, Ricky, and Lucy along somewhere." Joker said just as Robin and Blackbat both snagged the last two goons in a double takedown. The Batclan then took up positions near the master bedroom and threw open the door, batarangs ready to throw but they froze at what they saw. There was indeed a man and two women in bed but they weren't the Joker, Harley, or Wild Card. Instead it was a terrified family of three, a man, his wife, and their fourteen-year-old daughter, all lying in the bed together, bound and gagged. The wife and daughter both lay on their sides facing inward and had one of their hands inside their top facing hip pockets, pressing down on something while the husband had his hands tucked behind his head. On the headboard of the bed was strung up three wireless speakers above the three hostages. The speakers each had the face of either Joker, Harley, or Wild Card painted on them. Joker's was center over the husband, Harley's was on the left over the wife, and Wild Card's was right, over the daughter.

" _Surprise, Batman! You fell for that old fake Joker trick again! It never gets old!"_ Joker cackled through the speaker in the center as Batman switched to his detective mode and immediately saw why the hostages were so afraid. The women were both pressing down on pressure sensitive bombs in their pockets, their hands pressing down on one end and their own bodyweight pressing down on the one between them and the bed. The husband had his hands tucked behind his head, holding a grenade with the pin tied to a piece of string running to the bedframe. This insured that they stayed in the positions they were in. Batman and Robin quickly checked for explosives.

"Blackbat, restore the power. Use code cipher Alpha-Lambda 7." Batman ordered, Blackbat quietly rushing back out of the apartment while Batman and Robin moved towards the bed, removing the gags from the hostages.

"We're rigged! Please help us!" the wife pleaded, tearfully just as the lights came back on.

"Batman, are you seeing what I'm seeing?" Robin asked as Batman looked closer at the devices on the women. Batman quietly reached into the wife's pocket and pulled out the device and cracked it open, dumping its contents onto the floor: confetti and silver glitter.

"Don't move. Those two bombs were fakes but the two under you and the grenade behind your husband, are not." Batman said as Robin tossed away the other dud which broke upon hitting the floor, spilling more confetti and glitter onto the floor.

"Are we gonna die?" the daughter asked.

"Don't bet on it." Robin asked with a reassuring smile as Batman gently and carefully rolled the wife over to look at the bomb under her more carefully. It was a triangular device with a large silver button on the top for the pressure sensor. Batman pulled a small injector-like device from his belt, carefully injecting a clear sticky liquid into the crack between the pressure sensor and the explosive. Robin did the same with the other.

"Sorry about the manhandling. Normally I don't get so grabby with women. I'll owe you dinner and a movie. Sound good to you?" Robin asked the girl, using the levity to calm her down.

"This is going to take a few seconds. I need to turn the bomb around. Robin? On three. One. Two. Three." Batman said as he and Robin both carefully and slowly turned the bombs so that they could access the other side. They then injected the liquid into the cracks, a slight crackling sound coming from the liquid around the bombs. After a few seconds the Dark Knight and Boy Wonder calmly reached in and with their thumbs pressing down on the weight sensors, pulled the explosives free from under the women, the liquid forming a powerful adhesive and keeping the sensor held down.

"Pass that one to me. Blackbat! Window! Now!" Batman ordered, Blackbat rushing back towards them while grabbing a heavy decorative statue and using it to smash one of the windows as Batman stuck two explosive devices to the bottom of the Joker's bombs, throwing them out one at a time where they harmlessly exploded high in the air. Meanwhile Robin reached over and carefully snipped the string tied to the pin in the grenade the husband was holding.

"Alright. The good news is you can move now. Bad news, the grenade was a phony all along." Robin said as the husband pulled his arms back around forward, pulling the gag from his mouth.

" _Oh boo! Ol' 'Snobbin' just stepped all over the punchline!"_ Joker's voice rang through the center speaker. The TV across from the bed suddenly clicked on, showing the Joker sitting at a card table with Harley and Wild Card, playing cards.

"Joker." Batman growled as he stepped into the room.

" _Sorry I couldn't be there, batfreak. You know the life of a mayoral candidate. Constituents to poison, babies to slap, hands to break. You know, the usual."_ Joker chuckled.

"What did you want with these people, Joker?" Batman asked but the Joker merely chuckled again.

" _Why Batman, I haven't even told the joke yet! But since you're such a good audience, I'll tell it to you anyway. It's a pretty good one too. You see, there was this guy who wanted to blow up a building! So he kidnaps the building's owner and his family and ties them up all the way across town! Want to know the punchline? I'm not the guy."_ Joker said with a dark grin, chuckling for a moment.

" _Harley, Wild Card, I think it's time you go get ready for the bat. He'll likely be showing up soon. Toodle-ooh bats!"_ Joker giggled before the TV turned off. Batman immediately turned around towards the family in the bed.

"Alright, who are you and what buildings do you own?" Batman asked as the man scratched his head.

"I'm Joseph Keller, I'm the V.P. of Gene-Grow Industries based out of Metropolis. I came to town to tour one of our fertilizer factories here in Gotham. I'd just finished the tour when I got snatched. My wife and daughter were with me since the tour was only one day and we were going to make a vacation out of the rest of our time here." The man explained as Batman narrowed his gaze.

"Have there been any sort of labor disputes within the past ten years involved with that plant?" Batman asked, the man thinking for a moment.

"Uh let me think…uh, yes-yes there was! We'd gotten some new equipment to help streamline the production of the fertilizer! It was going to replace some of the older equipment and we wouldn't need as many employees. Well, the union caught wind of the plan and sent out some insane rep to our offices. He said to get rid of the machines or the employees would strike. We refused and he tried to organize a strike the next day!" Joseph explained.

"Tried?" Robin asked, curiously.

"Only two or three of the workers joined him for the strike. We'd announced long before the machines would arrive that we needed workers in a different but similar part of the production, so if anything the employees who lost those jobs would simply be put in a different area. No jobs were to be lost and we communicated that heavily to the entire company! We even bragged that no one would lose their jobs from the new machines! But that rep, Weems, he just went into a blind rage! We had to call the police to remove him." Joseph said as Batman gave a nod.

"I've notified the GCPD. They'll be here soon. Don't go anywhere and don't worry about the Joker's men. We've taken care of them." Batman replied as he and the batclan turned and headed out, the sound of police sirens echoing from outside.

…

On the Batwing outside, the Batclan were flying towards the industrial district of Gotham, the sound bafflers disengaged since the Joker knew they were coming. As they flew, Oracle came on over the comms.

" _Batman! It's Anarky! He's making another broadcast! I'm running a trace on it now!"_ Oracle reported, Batman quickly switching on the television monitors, showing Anarky standing before the same backdrop as before.

" _Citizens of Gotham, my warnings have not been heeded. The Batman continues to attempt to prevent the Joker's promise. I am giving you this warning Batman. Stand down. I won't ask again. The corporate regime will not win this time!"_ Anarky warned. Suddenly the feed was interrupted by the Joker sitting in front of the Joker colored American Flag.

" _Spoken like a true lunatic, A-Frame! You and I are going to make great things explode together!"_ Joker commented before Anarky's feed reappeared.

" _Our goals align, nothing more."_ Anarky replied, calmly. Joker then reappeared.

" _Oh? And here I thought we were running mates because you liked my puckish charm."_ Joker giggled. Back to Anarky.

" _Remember my warning, Batman. If I see you or your team anywhere near my bombs, they're going off, and don't think I didn't notice what you did at the mall! I've set the bombs to go off instantly if you tamper with them! Embrace the Anarchy!"_ Anarky warned before the feed cut out.

"Oracle, did you get the trace that time?" Batman asked.

" _Yes but Joker and Anarky are using two separate signals. Both are bouncing off of as many as twelve different satellites. It's going to take time to sort them both out."_ Oracle replied as Batman pondered for a moment.

"Get on it, Oracle. Have the GCPD and Fire Department standing by." Batman ordered as the fertilizer plant came into sight. 

**End Chapter 5**


	6. P U Politics

**10:00 PM  
Gene-Grow Industries – Fertilizer Factory**

Batman, Robin, and Blackbat were crouched on a catwalk connecting one of the large stacks to the factory, watching a loading dock where a couple of Joker goons patrolled.

"I don't get it. If these are Anarky's bombs, why are Joker's goons protecting them?" Robin asked.

" _J is A?"_ Cassandra asked in Morse Code, effectively asking if Joker was Anarky.

"I don't think so. This is more in line with Anarky's M.O. He doesn't endanger the lives of his supporters since they're typically so few in number anyway. No, he's a bomber, not a suicide bomber. On the other hand, the Joker knows that I will do what I can to prevent those bombs from going off so he wants me to interfere just to give Anarky an excuse to set them off." Batman explained.

"And take us along with Anarky's target." Robin replied.

"Precisely." Batman replied, turning on his cowl's detective vision.

"Sync up your cowls to the Batwing's sensors. It'll allow us to pinpoint the bombs more precisely." Batman said as they flipped on the detective vision modes of their cowls and masks. They could see hazy orange objects moving through the factory, Joker's goons most likely, along with three red blurs positioned in three locations throughout the facility.

"Anarky has a sensor on each of the bombs. We'll need to defuse them all at once. Split up and focus on one bomb each. Signal when in position. Take down the henchmen only if necessary." Batman ordered. The other two gave a nod in response and hurried up onto the roof. Inside the plant, the goons were patrolling the halls, carrying SMGs and shotguns as they kept an eye out for Batman or the Batclan. One bomb was located high up on a shelf in the loading area where large shelves sat with equipment and ready-to-ship fertilizer packs. Blackbat found this one and crouched down next to the bomb, out of sight from the goons below. She then tapped a button on her cowl, causing her cowl to display a partial QWERTY keyboard on her left gauntlet via augmented reality.

" _In position. Bomb 1."_ She said through her voice emulator. At the same time, Robin dropped down through a ventilation shaft into an employee breakroom where the second bomb was set up, a goon standing outside in the doorway. Robin quickly slipped into the shadows, pulling out a remote guided wingding before throwing it, using an AR display and controls on his left gauntlet to guide the batarang past the goon, who didn't notice, down the hall, and into a series of pipes running along overhead, causing a loud clattering and banging sound on impact. The goon jumped at the sound and raised his gun.

"What was that?!" he yelped, clearly nervous, as he left his post to investigate. Robin grinned and slipped in behind the bomb, checking it over.

"Robin in position. We've got a slight problem. This bomb has a motion detector." Robin whispered into the comms, noticing another Anarchy Tag on the bomb, quickly scanning it into his mask.

" _Same."_ Blackbat replied.

" _Anarky's learning from his mistakes. Hold position. I'm almost to the third bomb."_ Batman said as he entered one of the storage room where large drums full of the chemicals used to create fertilizer were stored. Many of the drums had been forcibly opened, leaving a dangerous cocktail of fumes lingering in the room.

"We may have a problem. The third bomb is located deep within a room filled with flammable gasses." Batman reported, seemingly not noticing the figure sneaking up behind him.

"I know, ain't it a gas, B-Man?!" Harley asked, Batman spinning around in time to be on the receiving end of Harley's oversized mallet, knocking him across the room. Harley smirked and pulled a radio from her belt.

"Oh boys, we've got bats in the belfry! Check the boom-booms will ya, and I don't mean the fertilizer!" Harley called out. Back in the break room, Robin peeked out from behind the bomb to see the goon from earlier scramble back inside, gun raised, looking around. He then approached the bomb, Robin ducking down and waiting until he was just close enough. He then popped up from behind the bomb, grabbing the goon by the collar and pulling him down onto the ground, muffling his mouth with his leg before delivering a powerful blow to the groin, the pain being so much he passed out after a loud but muffled scream. Robin then grabbed the gun, removing the clip and the barrel, tossing both in opposite directions so as to render the weapon useless. He turned around and came face to face with Wild Card who was leaning over the bomb, resting her head on one arm.

"Heya bird brain!" she greeted, giving him a wink before bringing her other arm around, her bat in hand. Robin narrowly ducked the swing before rolling clear of the bomb.

"Cut it out you maniac! This thing's live!" Robin exclaimed.

"No duh! Why do you think I'm keeping you away from it?! You want us all to get blown to smithereens?!" Wild Card asked with a demented smile as she wildly swung at Robin who rolled out of the way of this swing as well.

"You're crazy!" Robin yelped, leaping back towards the door.

"Hel~lo?! Doesn't the name Wild Card kinda give you a hint?!" she asked, charging towards him. Meanwhile on the loading dock, a couple of the goons had grabbed a scissor lift and were rising up to the bomb's level on the top shelf with their guns ready. They looked but didn't see Blackbat anywhere.

"I don't see anything, do you?" one of the goons asked.

"Guess it's only two of-AHHHH!" the other goon answered before a black figure dropped down, grabbed him, and yanked him back up into the air only to start dangling back down by the feet, his gun falling to the floor. The second goon, recoiled in fear when it happened, giving Blackbat the opportunity to leap across and then drop down on him from the shadows, flailing her cape at him before belting him in the throat, then kneeing him in the crotch, before pulling him towards her and stepping to the side, causing the goon to go flailing over the edge, landing on a pallet of fertilizer below but the landing was still enough to knock him out. A bullet suddenly ricocheted near her, causing her to flinch. She looked and saw two more goons running up with their guns trained on her. She quickly threw down a smoke pellet and disappeared into the shadows.

"Where'd he go?!" "Find him!" the goons yelled, assuming Blackbat to be Batman or at least a male. Meanwhile, Harley was prowling through a control room with her mallet, looking for Batman.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are B-man! I've gotta little surprise for ya!" she called, stalking through the room with her mallet ready to swing at a moment's notice. She then paused, thinking she heard him behind her and spun around, swinging the mallet only to smash it into some equipment, getting it wedged in the process.

"Oops." She whimpered half-heartedly before feeling something breathing down her neck. She quickly tried to swing her leg around but was caught by the knee mid swing and flipped up and onto her back where she hit the ground hard. Batman grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to her feet, pushing her up against the wall, her arm pinned behind her back.

"Where's Joker?!" he asked but Harley scoffed.

"Ha! Wouldn't you like to know?" she asked coyly.

"I don't have the patience for this, Harley! Where is the Joker?" He asked firmly.

"I ain't tellin'! Besides, ya got bigger problems than Mista' J! Ya got those bombs to deal with, don't ya?" Harley replied as Batman scowled. She was right. Anarky could catch wind any moment that Batman was on site and set off the bombs.

"Then you're going to tell me how to defuse them!" Batman ordered but Harley scoffed again.

"Please! They ain't one of Mista' J's party favors! They're Anarky's noise makers! I wouldn't even know where to begin!" Harley replied.

"Then tell me where Joker is! It's either that or defuse the bomb." Batman said, causing Harley to start sweating.

"What? Ya wouldn't!" she said.

"Try me." Batman argued softly but pointedly, earning a whimper from Harley.

"Alright! Alright! I dunno where Mr. J is! Honest! He disappears every so often lately! There are times I don't see him for days! I mean just last week! I never saw him at all! He says he's got a special hidin' place, somewhere that you'd never think to look!" Harley exclaimed, Batman scowling. There was just enough cowardice in Harley that she was more than likely telling the truth. Meanwhile, Robin and Wild Card's fight had spilled out into the hallway outside the breakroom, Robin ducking her attacks.

"Come 'ere Boy Blunder!" She taunted with an insane grin.

"Man how bad did the Joker gas you?" Robin asked, keeping a hand near his bo-staff.

"Didn't. Actually, he's given me a nice inoculation against Smile-X so the only grins I get are the ones that come from inhaling Slender Gas or making the Bat bleed!" she said, taking another swing at him.

"Makes sense. I heard about what happened to your uncle. You need to know it was an accident! Batman tried to save him, you know!" Robin said, earning a twitchy eyed grin of anger from Carde.

"I don't care about him anymore. Never loved me. He was just using me as a tool." Carde replied, taking a swing but Robin caught the bat in midair, the two beginning to fight over the bat.

"And what makes the Joker any different?! He's just using you too! He's no different than Brooks! You're sick, Willy! You need help!" Robin grunted as they fought over the bat. Carde paused when Robin said her nickname.

"How do you know my name?" she asked, Robin suddenly remembering Batman's advice.

"Best you don't think about it too closely. If I know the Joker, and I know him far better than you, he'll kill you if you find out my identity." Robin said as Carde thought back to the Joker's warning the night before.

"Well…if I gotta go out…" she said, her eyes shifting towards the bomb inside the breakroom. Robin caught her gaze before she spun around and started running back towards the breakroom door. Robin quickly dove through the window, rolling in between the door and the bomb with his bo-staff raised, blocking her as she ran into the room.

"Now look who's guarding the bomb?" she asked with a coy grin. Back in the loading dock, Blackbat was quietly stalking two of the Joker's goons, slipping in behind them both and dropping Flash-Batarangs into the hoods of the jackets they wore.

"Where is that Bat?! I can't find him!" one of the goons commented as they walked past the scissor lift. Blackbat had grappled up to the top of the large door roller over the loading dock doors before firing a grappler to the scissor lift. Just as the goons walked beneath it, she detonated the batarangs which let out a screamingly loud bang but caused no physical damage, the goons falling to the floor, writhing as they held their ears.

"GAH! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT NOISE?!" one of them yelled as two more goons came running up to them.

"What the-! Oh no we've got two men down over here!" one of the goons exclaimed, Blackbat waiting patiently as one more goon joined them. Now with all five goons gathered around, she quickly started to pull with all her might, causing the scissor lift to start tilting slowly towards her. She then looked down at the door roller she was standing on and quickly connected the other end of the grappler to the door before swinging down onto the door itself, her weight causing the heavy door to close and pull the lift over. The goons saw it and dove for cover just as the lift came crashing down. None of them were killed but four were pinned beneath the machine, leaving only one goon scared senseless. All Cassandra had to do was sneak up behind him and tap him on the shoulder, causing him to let out a bloodcurdling scream before falling to the floor in a dead faint. Back in the chem storage room, Batman had a gas mask on while Harley remained handcuffed to a metal post outside.

"Batman to all points, I'm in position and ready to begin defusing." Batman said into the radio.

" _*Grunt* Yeah, not likely to happen right away! *Grunt* Trying to keep Wild Card from setting off the bomb!"_ Robin replied, Batman's eyes widening.

"Can you hold her off?" Batman asked.

" _She's putting up a good fight!"_ Robin grunted back. Down in the breakroom, Robin was just barely managing to keep Wild Card away. He didn't notice as the goon he'd knocked out earlier started to get up, leaning up against the bomb to brace himself, not knowing what it was. Wild Card saw this and started cackling.

"You lose bird breath!" she crowed before turning and diving through the window. Robin turned and saw the thug, the bomb starting to let out a beeping noise. The thug looked and finally realized what he was touching and started running for the door, screaming.

"BATMAN! Motion detector's gone off!" Robin yelled into the comms.

" _Everyone out! NOW!"_ Batman replied. Up in the chem storage, Batman grabbed the handcuffed Harley and started running, carrying her over his shoulder.

"Hey! Put me down Bats!" she screamed. Blackbat was just dragging a few unconscious goons out of the facility when Robin flew past.

"Run for it!" he yelled, Blackbat chasing after him. On another side of the facility, Batman burst out of a door, still carrying Harley, and fired his grapple gun at an adjoining building.

" _Anarky's on to you! He's making another broadcast!"_ Oracle exclaimed before patching in the audio feed.

" _Batman, you've left me no choice! Embrace the Anarchy!"_ Anarky said just seconds before explosions ripped through the fertilizer factory, the building collapsing in on itself. On the adjacent rooftop, Batman watched as the bombs leveled the building.

"Did everyone make it out alright?!" He yelled into the comms.

" _Yeah…we're good. You alright?"_ Robin asked.

"I'm fine. Was there anyone inside?" Batman asked back.

" _Blackbat got most of the unconscious goons out. There might've been some inside when it blew."_ Robin replied.

"We'll have to leave it for the GCFD." Batman said.

" _Copy that. What about Harley and Wild Card?"_ Robin asked as Batman turned to where he'd set Harley down but saw that the Joker's Moll had disappeared. He looked over the edge of the building and saw a non-descript van tearing out of an alleyway, Harley in the passenger seat and Wild Card at the wheel.

"Escaped. I'll alert Commissioner Gordon." Batman said with an annoyed sigh.

* * *

 **11:54 PM  
GCPD Headquarters – The Office of Commissioner J. Gordon.**

" _For the second night in a row, after repeated threats, the terrorist Anarky has finally followed through with his threat of setting off several bombs within Gotham City. This time however, more than just a few windows were broken in the explosion. Whether by good fortune or as a simple warning shot, the bombs Anarky detonated did not claim any innocent lives. However, Gene-Grow Industries is now out an entire fertilizer plant which was leveled by the explosions. Anarky has claimed responsibility for the explosion, stating that he had issued his warning to the Batman and the GCPD not to interfere with the Joker or his plans but that his warnings went unheeded. In related news, polls continue to show a dead heat between mayoral candidates Hamilton Hill, John Hunter, and Alex Ronson, even in spite of the Joker's declaration that the winning candidate will be assassinated. Pundits say that voter turnout is also predicted to reach an unprecedentedly high level, but analysts say this too is in response to Anarky's declaration to set off more bombs should voter turnout be lower than last year's."_ Jack Ryder reported before the television was turned off.

"I know you did everything you could Batman but now this is getting even more serious." Commissioner Gordon said with a heavy sigh.

"The Mayor starting to breathe down your neck?" Batman asked.

"Are you kidding? His butt is on the line here. He wins, he's dead. He loses, he's out of office. It's a lose-lose situation for him and he doesn't want to end up being the second Mayor the Joker offs. He wants the situation handled. He's contemplating on reactivating the Anti-Vigilante Task Force that Branden had running before I became Commissioner just so you don't interfere and provoke Anarky again." Gordon said as Batman gave him a serious look.

"We'll stop them both, Jim. You know we will." Batman said as Jim sighed again.

"Well the polls open nine hours from now. I'll be getting my men ready to roll until then. In the meantime, do what you can to stop these clowns…err, no pun intended." Gordon said, earning a light smile from Batman.

"You have my word commissioner." Batman replied. Gordon was nearly out the door when he stopped.

"Oh, I almost forgot. One of the Doctors at Arkham sent me this. Said you'd asked for it last night. What is it?" Jim asked, picking up a folder off his desk and handed it to Batman who opened it up.

"It's a DNA test result on a potential lead as to Anarky's identity." Batman replied.

"Oh finally. That means we can finally nail this guy." Gordon said with relief.

"Unfortunately it doesn't. The DNA taken from my suspect years ago is a perfect match for a headless corpse they found in Arkham back in 2009. I've reached a dead end." Batman said as Gordon snapped his fingers.

"Maybe, maybe not." He said as he picked up another folder off his desk but this one had the official GCPD seal on it.

"This came in from the CSI techs. They finished analyzing the defused bombs from Jezebel Plaza and found some dried blood on one of the bomb casings. Looks like Anarky or at least one of his supporters cut themselves while making the bombs. They've also identified some trace elements that might help narrow down Anarky's hideout." Jim said, Batman reading the file over curiously.

"Commissioner, I'd like you to call Doctor Maria Sanchez at Arkham Asylum, and ask her to bring a blood sample from the patient I spoke to her about to your CSI teams and have them compare the DNA of the two samples." Batman requested, earning a curious look from Gordon.

"Have a hunch do you?" Gordon asked.

"I might. That DNA test will either confirm my suspicions or deny them altogether. Let me know what the results are as soon as you get them." Batman said as he handed the folder back to Gordon.

"I'll make it a rush order. Anything to stop these madmen." Gordon said, looking at the folder.

"So what's your-…" Gordon said but stopped when he looked up and saw the room was empty. The Batman had vanished once again.

"If I had a nickel for every time you did that, I'd have more money than Bruce Wayne." Gordon mumbled to himself.

* * *

 **End Chapter 6**


	7. The Puppet & The Punchline

**November 3rd – Election Day  
12:13 AM  
Batcave**

The Batmobile rolled into the batcave, having just returned from visiting the Commissioner. Robin and Blackbat were both near the main batcave computer, Robin on the main computer while Cassandra sat at a workstation to the side, her fingers hammering away on the keys to the workstation computer. As Bruce approached, pulling back his cowl, he saw that Tim was studying something on the main screen.

"Find something?" Bruce asked.

"I think so, yeah. I might've found Anarky's motive for seeing Ronson murdered." Tim said, pointing to the screen which showed a similar verse like the one decrying Hamilton Hill's alleged crimes against Anarky only this one was aimed at Ronson.

" _The Hill, the Hunter, and the Puppet. The three competitors for death. We know their crimes and the voice of the people shall be heard! The Puppet of False Kings knows only one true master and speaks from two sides of his mouth. He speaks of working for the people while a knife is held to his throat by the Falcone family and their criminal empire! If elected, he will be executed as an avatar of corruption!"_

Bruce finished reading it and furrowed his brow.

"Where did you find this?" Bruce asked as Tim got up from the chair, Bruce sitting down at the computer in his place.

"On a tag like what we found on the bomb at Jezebel Plaza. I scanned this one since I didn't think removing it while the bomb was still live was a good idea." Tim said as Bruce gave a nod.

"Good thinking." Bruce said, looking the verse over again.

"So Ronson has Falcone ties?" Tim asked, surprised as Bruce pulled up a program listing Ronson's campaign contributors.

"I've known this for a while." Bruce said, surprising Tim.

"Wait, you've known this and haven't said or done anything before now?" he asked.

"I only get involved if I can prove that Ronson has committed a crime of some kind. Ronson is very clean with only a couple of moving violations against him. Besides, it's my business to check the campaign contributions for every candidate. Determines who's pulling what strings." Bruce said as Tim looked at the list.

"So all you have to do is buy a politician? I'm beginning to see Anarky's point of view." Tim replied.

"It's not like that. More often than not, those contributions are simply reinforcing the candidates' existing views and ideals. But that's beside the point. Look at this." Bruce said, pointing to the list. Several of the various names on the list had little red flag icons next to them.

"I'm not quite sure I understand the filing system here, Bruce." Tim commented.

"The red flags are generated when the name is associated with any one person or group with known criminal ties. Ronson's gotten a lot of contributions from criminal groups and just from looking at this list, they appear to all be shell companies owned by Carmine Falcone." Bruce said as Tim scowled.

"Cass, are you seeing this?" Tim asked. Cassandra's response was to knock on the top of the workstation she was sitting at, both men turning towards her. Cassandra had backed her chair away from the computer and was motioning to the screen.

"What've you got Cass? Looks like some kind of an epistle." Tim commented jokingly.

"It's a statement." Bruce replied, reading what Cass had written which was…

" _I was too young to understand at the time but the mob association theory has merit. I remember shortly after my parents died, when I was prepping for my initial Batgirl campaign, I would visit Ronson's hardware store and while I was there, on a few occasions, a couple of guys would come in and Ronson would give them an envelope of something. Cash is my theory. The men would then leave but Ronson would always be in a sour mood afterwards. Possible protection racket."_ Cassandra had written.

"So wait, how does one go from paying protection money to the mob to getting campaign contributions from the mob?" Tim asked.

"I think I know exactly what happened but we'll need Ronson to confirm it." Bruce said, pulling the cowl up over his head.

"Wait, why Ronson? The guy hates you." Tim said, he and Cassandra following after him towards the Batmobile. Batman then came to a stop before turning back towards them.

"You know how he's pushing for reactivating the Anti-Vigilante Task Force?" Batman asked.

"Yeah?" Tim asked, Cassandra looking just as curious.

"When he first started his campaign, he wasn't pushing for that task force. Instead he was pushing for a boost to the GCPD's Organized Crime Unit, something he hasn't talked about ever since he began promising to reactivate the AVTF." Batman said before turning and continuing towards the Batmobile.

* * *

 **12:54 AM  
The Home of Mr. A. Ronson.**

The home of Candidate Ronson was a quaint two story home in the Gotham suburbs. Plain clothes GCPD Officers were patrolling the grounds outside of the house and had been ever since the Joker's initial threat two nights ago. With it being Election Day, Candidate Ronson was having a restless night and gave up the fight of trying to get some sleep, heading down to his kitchen on the ground floor, getting some wine to calm his nerves. He had just set the wine down on the kitchen island and had turned back to grab a wine glass, and when he turned back he came face-to-face with the Batman.

"What-the-…oh it's you!" Ronson said, almost sighing with relief.

"We need to talk." Batman said as Ronson gave a nod.

"About what?" he asked but his mannerisms suggested that he relieved. Batman caught on and glanced around. He soon saw a small round black device hidden on the cowling over the stove. An audio surveillance bug, and it wasn't FBI issue.

"About some of the contributions you've received." Batman said, picking up the wine bottle and handing it to Ronson, motioning for him to come at him. Ronson was confused but understood, swinging the bottle at the Batman but the Dark Knight dodged, the bottle smashing against the refrigerator. Batman then motioned to be quiet and made a couple of loud thumps on the side of the fridge before grabbing Ronson. By the time the Police got inside, all they found was a shattered wine bottle, its contents pooling on the floor. On the roof of a nearby post office, Batman set Ronson down, Ronson breathing a sigh of relief.

"Don't ever do that again! I have a fear of heights!" Ronson panted as he sat down on an AC Vent.

"We can speak freely here. I know you've received donations from the Falcones through some of their various shell companies and even their legitimate businesses. There's evidence to implicate that you're being manipulated by the Mob so my question is, are you one of them or merely their pawn?" Batman asked as Ronson looked around.

"Pawn. I started running for Mayor to try and get out from under their cursed thumb! My father started that hardware store and for as long as I can remember, we've had to pay protection money to the mob. Last year, one of the businesses down the street from me was burned to the ground because they couldn't pay the monthly protection fee. That's when I vowed to do something about it." Ronson explained, increasingly relieved that he was able to tell someone his story.

"So you chose to run for mayor on a platform of running the mob out of Gotham." Batman said as Ronson gave a submissive nod.

"I underestimated them. I thought I'd be untouchable as a political candidate. I was never more wrong. The day after I began my campaign, one of the Falcones, Alberto I think, paid me a visit. He said that the Falcones would bankroll my campaign and no longer make me pay protection fees in exchange for reactivating the Vigilante Task Force and reversing my stance on the Organized Crime force." Ronson explained.

"And refusal or failure would get you killed." Batman said as Ronson nodded.

"He didn't make any direct threats aside from the usual 'accidents can happen' threat. Falcone gave me a day to think about it. The next day two men came by my daughter's school and talked to her. After that, I agreed to everything they wanted. I've been their…their puppet ever since." Ronson explained remorsefully before looking up at the Batman.

"Batman, I want you to know how sorry I am, really sorry, for the way I've demonized you to the media. I personally owe you my life. You saved me from some muggers once several years ago. I don't know if I'd even still be alive if it weren't for you." Ronson said, Batman giving him a dismissive wave.

"If you want to make it up to me, there's only one way you can. Testify against the Falcones." Batman said as Ronson paled.

"Turn State's Evidence against them? They'd kill me. They're watching my house at this very moment. Having the cops on site has gotta be making them nervous. I'd have to get my family out from under their nose." Ronson said as Batman turned away, putting a hand to his earpiece.

"Oracle, alert Commissioner Gordon and the FBI that they're to take the Ronson Family into Witness Protection as soon as the election is over." Batman ordered, surprising Ronson.

"Witness Protection?" Ronson asked as Batman turned back towards him.

"I've known about the Falcone's hold on you for some time. I wasn't sure if you were a pawn or a willing part of their organization. Now that I know, we can help you escape them once the election is finished." Batman said but Ronson looked visibly afraid.

"After? But what if I win? The Joker will be after me! And worse, that Anarky might blow me up!" Ronson said.

"You worry about your family. I'll worry about the Joker." Batman said as Ronson gave a nod.

* * *

 **11:00 AM  
Wayne Enterprises – The Office of Bruce Wayne**

Bruce sat at his desk, reading the latest copy of the Gotham Gazette. The headline read…

"Anarky threatens attack over election do-over!"

Alfred was quietly dusting off Bruce's office.

"It would appear that the Governor was prepared to nullify the election, sir." Alfred commented.

"He probably will anyway once Anarky is out of the way." Bruce said as he slid the paper aside, looking at his computer.

"If I may sir, you seem to be focusing more on Anarky than on the Joker. Most unusual for you, sir." Alfred commented.

"It's also unusual for the Joker to have partners that don't fit his usual M.O. I wonder if Anarky isn't just a pawn of the Joker, part of his joke." Bruce pondered.

"Which begs the question, does Anarky know he's being played?" Alfred asked.

"It's possible he does but so long as his goals align with the Joker's own, he doesn't care. But also knowing the Joker, there's some sort of joke to this. Something we haven't seen yet." Bruce said.

"A slight change of subject, sir, but what about Congressman Hunter? We know that Anarky has motive against the other two candidates, but what of the Congressman?" Alfred asked.

"Three words, Alfred. Three words that every union leader fears: Right-to-work. It means that unions cannot force workers to join in order to be employed in their profession. The workers are legally protected from forced unionization. It cripples union houses by allowing non-union employees to gain employment there. It also cripples union recruitment. Congressman Hunter brought a right-to-work bill before the United States Congress over a year ago, a move to make the whole country a right-to-work nation. The bill was defeated but it earned him the ire of every union in the state if not the country. But he did endorse the successful right-to-work bill in the state government. Anarky's motive is obvious." Bruce explained.

"I suppose so sir." Alfred commented, Bruce sitting back in thought.

"Which also begs the question as to why we have as of yet to see the Joker in person. Every time we've communicated it's been remotely, over radios or television feeds. So why isn't he showing up in person?" Bruce pondered, thinking back to Harley Quinn's comments the night before.

" _He disappears every so often lately! There are times I don't see him for days! I mean just last week! I never saw him at all! He says he's got a special hidin' place, somewhere that you'd never think to look!"_ Harley had said.

"Somewhere that I'd never think to look." Bruce muttered to himself.

* * *

 **8:41 PM  
Batcave**

Batman, Robin, and Blackbat were gearing up for the night. The polls had closed and the ballots were being counted. Early reports showed a record high voter turnout which was bound to appease Anarky in that regard but there was still the matter of preventing the Joker's assassination and Anarky's subsequent bombing. The outcome was still unknown but the latest polls had Congressman Hunter in a slim lead and the returns were showing as much.

"I want the two of you posted at City Hall. All three candidates are being held in separate locations. The minute the results come in, I want you to protect the winner." Batman ordered as Robin restocked his supply of wingdings.

"Where are you going to be?" Robin asked.

"Looking for Anarky. I'm still waiting on the test results the GCPD CSIs were running to come back. Commissioner Gordon should have them. Robin, ask him for the results and relay them to me." Batman ordered as he headed for the batmobile.

"You got it." Robin said as he and Blackbat hurried to the R-Cycle. Before Batman could get into the Batmobile, Oracle came on over the comms.

" _Batman, Anarky's making another broadcast!"_ Oracle reported.

"Track it!" Batman ordered as he leapt into the batmobile, the batmobile roaring off out of the cave.

" _Citizens of Gotham, the time is fast approaching. The time when the fascist electorate places their pawn in office, the pawn they have chosen to best represent their interests and not the interests of the people. That pawn will then be summarily executed by the Joker. Although his motives differ from my own, they are no less just and the person he will kill will be no less deserving. But it has become clear to me that Gotham's Dark Knight is dead set on attempting to prevent this from happening, to maintain the status quo of his corporate masters. So to make sure there is no interference, I have planted three bombs in three separate locations. I make no effort to hide their locations. They are located within the following locations: onboard Mayor Hill's yacht in the North Gotham Yacht Harbor, within the Ronson Hardware Store, and within the home of Congressmen John Hunter. If the police or the Batman attempt to interfere with the assassination, I will detonate all three bombs. Embrace the Anarchy."_ Anarky said before the feed cut out.

"Oracle?" Batman asked.

" _It'll take a moment! I'm tracing the bombs. My father is scrambling the GCPD Bomb Squad to those locations now."_ Oracle said as Batman gave a nod.

"Advise them of the defusal process and warn them that they need to coordinate their defusal so that all three bombs are defused at exactly the same time." Batman said.

" _Will do."_ Oracle replied. Batman rounded a corner and saw the Batsignal illuminating the Gotham Night Sky.

"One more thing Oracle. Patch me through to the Commissioner's cellphone." Batman ordered. Oracle didn't say a word and did as instructed, the ring signal being heard a couple of times before Gordon answered.

" _Barbara? What is it, what's the matter?"_ Commissioner Gordon asked. Barbara had patched him through using her own phone.

"Did you get the lab results on the DNA tests yet?" Batman asked.

" _Batman?! How did you-…never mind, where's Barbara?"_ Gordon asked.

" _I'm fine dad. Batman called me."_ Barbara replied.

" _Oh. Good. To answer your question, Batman, we did. The DNA results were only a partial match to the victim. Possibly a close relative."_ Gordon replied as Batman scowled.

"Thank you Commissioner. I'll be at City Hall soon enough." Batman replied.

" _I'll call you soon, Dad."_ Barbara said before there was a click on the line.

" _Okay Bruce we're clear."_ Barbara, as Oracle, said.

"I want you to run a background check on Peter Weems. Look for addresses and see if any of those addresses come up as being on the market or abandoned. Also take note if Anarky's broadcasts originated from any point near those locations. Let me know as soon as you have something." Batman ordered.

" _On it. I'll notify you if I find anything."_ Oracle replied, the communications console started beeping.

"Standby Oracle. Go ahead Robin." Batman said.

" _Batman, we made a stop at one of the bomb sites to help pass along the defusal instructions but we found another Anarky Tag. You're not going to believe this!"_ Robin said as Batman narrowed his gaze.

"Try me." He replied.

" _Alright. The Hill, the Hunter, and the Puppet. The three competitors for death. We know their crimes and the voice of the people shall be heard! The Hunter of the Conservative Elite! The Hunter did not fight for the worker while in Washington, he fought for the corporation. When he said we had a right to work, he meant we had a right to work under corporations' rules where we had no say and no right to bargain for our betterment! The people have been heard and the Hunter will serve the Fascists no more!"_ Robin read off, causing Batman to slow down.

"Wait, say that again, that last line." Batman said.

" _Exactly what I said. The people have been heard and the Hunter will serve the Fascists no more. You know what that means?"_ Robin asked, worriedly.

"It means something's been done to Congressman Hunter." Batman replied as the Batmobile came to a stop at an intersection. As he waited for the light to turn green, he happened to glance at an adjacent street corner and saw something that stuck out to him. It was a simple public bench with a Mayoral Campaign ad on it but it was in the process of being vandalized by a couple of young kids, one of whom was spray painting a moustache on the already grinning image of Congressmen Hunter. Batman suddenly remembered something the Joker had said in one of his addresses.

" _You know, I've been grinning at you closet lunatics for years but lately my grins have been everywhere! Sometimes from a bus, from a park bench, even grinning down at you from on billboards."_ The Joker had said as Batman froze. He quickly hit the afterburners on the Batmobile, turning the Batmobile back towards City Hall.

"Batman to all points! Get to City Hall! I know where the Joker is!" Batman said as the Batmobile rocketed down the Gotham Streets. Oracle then came on.

" _Batman! They just announced over the radio that the results are in. Congressman Hunter is the new Mayor of Gotham!"_ Oracle said as Batman scowled angrily.

* * *

 **8:58 PM  
Gotham City Hall**

Congressman Hunter stepped out of the front doors to City Hall, waving to his new constituents with a broad smile. The flash bulbs of dozens of cameras were going off as Congressman Hunter, escorted by several uniformed police officers, made his way to the podium to give his victory speech.

"Proud citizens of Gotham! Tonight, you have made a decision! You came together despite adversity, despite the threat of serious violence, despite the ravings of a lunatic! You came together and made a choice as to who you wanted to be Mayor! And you chose me!" Hunter announced amidst the crowd's cheers.

"Tonight, though, you also made a choice to have me killed. Assassinated, murdered, thrown into a pine box six feet into the ground. So now I imagine the Joker is going to come along any minute now and do me in. Well…there's just one problem with that. You see…" Hunter said, still smiling as he reached for his chin and pinched the skin, pulling at it, pulling it unnaturally away. The cheering crowd fell silence in disbelief and horror as Hunter literally pulled off his face, revealing a face of chalk white skin, green hair, red lips, and yellow stained teeth, grinning right back at them. The crowd erupted into a sound of panic and one or two people screamed in horror as the Joker threw his mask into the crowd with a wide grin.

"…You see, Gotham, the Joker's right here!"

* * *

 **End Chapter 7**


	8. The Joke's On Gotham

All of Gotham stood aghast at the sight of the Clown Prince of Crime, standing before them at the Mayoral podium, having revealed himself to be masquerading as Congressman John Hunter the entire time. Joker himself was grinning at the stunned crowd before him, laughing in amusement at their expressions. He quietly raised an old polaroid camera and snapped their picture, giggling as he pocketed the photograph.

"This one's going in the scrapbook! Surprised, Gotham? I hope so! You know I've really gotta give you guys points! I said you'd be voting you'd most want dead and here I am!" Joker laughed as the GCPD and Security Personnel scrambled for the stage but the security around Joker revealed themselves to be the Joker's own goons as they removed their Officer's caps and donned clown masks, armed with SMGs and assault rifles, forcing the legitimate security back.

"So then, Gotham! Here I am, your new Mayor! You know, when you think about it, you'd have to be crazy to enter politics! Luckily I already am looney toons! I'd be perfect for the job! So whaddya say, Gotham? Give me a try?" Joker asked with a grin, putting a hand behind his ear to listen to the audience's reaction.

"What's that? No you say? Why? I won didn't I? Oh! I know, you want me to keep my campaign promise and kill John K. Hunter!" Joker said, pulling a remote device from inside his jacket pocket.

"Unlike most politicians who don't keep their promises, I keep mine! See?" Joker asked with a dark grin as he pressed the button on the remote, causing a trap door in the ceiling to open, causing the grinning corpse of Congressman Hunter to drop down and dangle above them, a rope tied around his neck. The audience immediately started screaming as the Joker started cackling.

"Oh he looks quite happy to be up there. He could use some company though! Oh I know, how about his campaign staff?!" Joker laughed, pressing a button and causing about a dozen more doors to open, causing the Congressman's entire staff, all dead and grinning, to drop down, dangling over the audience, causing the crowd to scream even more. The Joker was laughing incessantly at the crowd's reactions before a pair of batarangs flew in and knocked the guns from the hands of two of the Joker's goons. Joker looked and saw Batman, Blackbat, and Robin drop down from above the stage on the far ends, disarming the goons in their path.

"Whoops! Sorry folks! Looks like I've been recalled!" Joker chortled before he turned and ran into the hallway behind him, Batman breaking free of the goons and chasing after him. Joker's laughter echoed through the halls as Batman, snarling with anger, charged after the Clown Prince of Crime. As Batman chased after the Joker, Oracle came on over the radio.

" _Batman! Anarky's making another broadcast, and he's not happy!"_ Oracle said before patching in Anarky's Broadcast.

" _Joker! You cheater! This wasn't the deal!"_ Anarky yelled. Batman had come to a rotunda in the center of City Hall and Joker was nowhere in sight.

" _Why whatever do you mean, A-Train?! Ol' Hunty is dead! That is what you wanted, wasn't it?!"_ Joker asked coyly.

" _You know what I'm talking about! It wasn't supposed to be like this! The winner was supposed to be assassinated live! Shock the world!"_ Anarky argued. Batman switched to detective mode and saw an orange haze moving up the stairwell towards the roof. He immediately tore off, chasing after him.

" _Oh please! How was that not a shocker?! Were you even watching?!"_ Joker argued back.

" _It was all about you, Joker! It was supposed to be about the assassination, the death of another corporate pawn! You've ruined my vision!"_ Anarky yelled.

" _Oh why the long face, Anarchasm? It was one of my greatest jokes yet! Who cares about your vision?!"_ Joker laughed as Batman reached the rooftop but didn't find any sign of the Joker. His survival instincts quickly kicked in and he quickly rolled forward just narrowly dodging a swing of the Joker's crowbar. Batman turned to see his arch nemesis grinning towards him, having abandoned the blue jacket.

"So what did you think, Bats? Enjoy my joke?! Funny wasn't it?!" Joker asked, taking a swing at Batman but the Dark Knight ducked the swing and belted Joker across the face, causing the Joker to laugh whilst staggering back.

"What did you hope to accomplish, Joker?!" Batman snarled as Joker laughed even more.

"You know me, Bats! I wanted to show Gotham how crazy life is! To show them just how crazy everything about the political system is! That behind every speech and political ploy lurks a man wearing his underwear on his head and singing Al Jolson melodies!" Joker explained with an insane grin and a wild look in his eyes as he kept just out of Batman's reach. Batman took a swing but Joker sidestepped him and managed to smack Batman in the back with the crowbar, causing the Dark Knight to fall to the ground. Joker giggled as he raised the crowbar overhead.

"Politics are a joke, Batman! Who emerges from a political career with their mind intact?! Nobody! Just by announcing a campaign for political office, they're admitting they're crazy!" Joker yelled, striking Batman a couple of times in the back before Batman caught the crowbar mid swing with his right hand and then belting the Joker in the crotch with his left, causing Joker to stagger backwards.

"Not funny, Bats!" he snarled, pulling a semi-automatic pistol and pointing it at the Batman, opening fire and forcing Batman into cover.

"Why target Congressman Hunter?! Why him?!" Batman asked from behind his cover.

"Oh please, Bats! You hurt me! It was in front of you the whole time! Take out both Hs, both Ns, the U, and the T from Mister John K. Hunter's name and what do you get?! J-O-K-E-R!" the Joker chortled as Batman snarled. He had missed the clue because Congressman Hunter had been established long ago and the Joker did enjoy using aliases that, in some way, spelled out Joker.

"That was it?! That was the only reason?!" Batman asked, quickly rolling to cover as Joker fired at him.

"Pretty much!" Joker replied with a shrug.

"Why?!" Batman asked.

"Why?! Why do I do anything, Batman?! I'm crazy that's why!" Joker laughed as a spotlight from the bottom of a chopper lit up the roof, bathing the Joker in light. Batman looked, expecting to see a Police Chopper overhead but instead saw the same Joker Colored Chopper hovering overhead that Harley and Wild Card had escaped in only a couple nights ago, Harley at the controls and Wild Card throwing a rope ladder down to the Joker while sitting in the back with an AK-47. The Joker grabbed onto the ladder, picking up his crowbar in the process before waving at Batman.

"So long, Bats! Maybe next electoral season, it'll run for President! Won't even need a disguise and I'd still be a sure thing!" Joker laughed. Batman tried to go after him but Wild Card opened fire with the AK, forcing Batman to take cover again, prepping a batarang. The Joker was making his way up the ladder, the chopper turning away, when Batman popped out and hurled the batarang towards the chopper, the batarang sticking to the bottom of the hull as he pulled out his grapple gun, grappling onto the chopper's left landing strut, riding it off the roof. This didn't go unnoticed by the Joker who was only halfway up the ladder as Batman came swinging in and made a swing at the Clown Prince of Crime but missed.

"Harley! We need a look at the exit polls! Find a few would you?!" Joker yelled, grinning as he swung at the Batman with his crowbar but also missed.

"Sure thing Mista' J!" she replied as the helicopter started to veer towards one of the nearby Gotham Hotels which had a long row of flagpoles along the side of the third story. Batman quickly retracted his grappler closer towards the chopper, just narrowly missing the flagpoles. While flying, Batman pressed a couple buttons on his utility belt, remotely signaling the Batmobile. Batman looked up just as Wild Card emerged from the left side of the chopper with her AK, aiming at Batman while holding onto the chopper.

"Say goodbye, Bats!" She chortled, opening fire but Batman disengaged the grappler, narrowly avoiding Wild Card's gunfire, gliding towards the ground as the Batmobile roared into view ahead of him, driving along in the same direction and matching his speed so he would land safely in the batmobile's driver's seat. As soon as he was inside, the Joker Chopper flying just ahead of him, Oracle came on over the radio.

" _Batman! I've triangulated Anarky's location! He's working out of the old U.S.S. Gotham at the Gotham Dockyards! I'm picking up an energy spike of some kind!"_ Oracle reported as Batman scowled.

"The U.S.S. Gotham is an old Nuclear Submarine scheduled for decommissioning! He's bringing its reactor online! He's attempting to overload it!" Batman said as he turned the Batmobile around.

" _Batman…if that thing blows, it could take out all of Gotham!"_ Oracle exclaimed.

"Oracle, there's a tracer on the Joker's chopper! Track it and relay its location to the GCPD! Batman to all points, converge on the Gotham Dockyards!" Batman ordered as the Batmobile rocketed through the streets, heading for the dockyards.

" _Yeah we might have a problem there! Joker left a couple of lame-ducks! We found Smile-X bombs hidden in the roof of the meeting hall! Blackbat and I are working to defuse them now!"_ Robin replied.

"Keep working! I'll deal with Anarky!" Batman replied as the Batmobile raced through the streets of Gotham.

* * *

 **9:11 PM  
Gotham Dockyards – U.S.S. Gotham  
Reactor Room**

Anarky was stood hunched over the controls of the old Cold War Era Nuclear Submarine, working to bring the reactor back online. Alarms were already going off that the safeguards had been taken off and that the core temperature was starting to rise. Anarky heard a noise come from behind him, causing him to spin around towards the back, raising a detonator switch that was connected by a length of cable to something inside his jacket.

"Batman?! I know you're there! Show yourself!" Anarky yelled into the darkened corridors of the old submarine. He started to walk towards the corridor, detonator in hand.

"You can't stop Anarky, Batman! We will bring an end to the pollution of corporate influence over Gotham! We will cleanse this city and raise it anew, free of corruption and live in a truly democratic society! A society that we have always dreamed of!" Anarky yelled.

"You mean the society you and your father dreamed of, Weems?!" Batman's voice echoed through the sub, causing Anarky to pause.

"You don't know me, Batman! Don't pretend you do!" Anarky yelled.

"It was your idea to make yourself a martyr all those years ago, Weems. You faked your death at the dockyard riots years ago and let your father believe you were dead, knowing he would escalate matters." Batman explained, his voice still echoing through the corridors as Anarky made his way to the bridge.

"Peter Weems was weak! He wasn't willing to do what needed to be done to get the people of Gotham to listen! To free them of the oppression of the fascists! I am the savior of the masses, Batman! You cannot stop the Anarchy!" Anarky explained before a batarang suddenly flew in from the shadows, slicing through the detonator cable.

"What?!" he yelped before suddenly getting tackled to the ground by Batman. He tried to get up but was punched hard across the face, knocking him out.

…

Anarky came to, dangling by the ankles from a streetlamp outside near the docked U.S.S. Gotham. His polar suit had been opened and an explosive vest that he had been wearing was floating in the water. Batman stood nearby, a hand to his headset.

"Oracle, Anarky's been apprehended, what about the Joker?" Batman asked.

" _Police found the chopper downed under the C.P. Memorial Bridge. Unsurprisingly no bodies have been found but there is evidence that there was a boat waiting for them. Looks like he's escaped."_ Oracle reported with a sigh of disappointment.

"For now. He'll show up again. What about the bombs at City Hall?" Batman asked.

" _Taken care of. We did a scan of the building but it looks like we got them all. The GCPD Bomb Squad disabled all of Anarky's bombs too. We're heading over to rendezvous with you now, Batman."_ Robin replied.

"Good work. What of Candidate Ronson?" Batman asked.

" _FBI has him and his family in protective custody."_ Oracle replied.

"Good. Send my current coordinates to Commissioner Gordon. Let him know to expect Anarky. Batman out." Batman replied, turning towards the terrorist.

"You think you've won Batman! You've only stopped one Anarky! Another will rise in my place! We will liberate Gotham from the fascist government one day!" Anarky spat as Batman approached and removed Anarky's mask, revealing the face of a young man in his mid-twenties.

"Karl Weems. Was this all about avenging your father's death? Getting revenge for the injustices he suffered?" Batman asked as Karl Weems, the son of the late Peter Weems, scowled at him.

"Had the Joker not messed everything up, we would have sent a message to the world. But the Joker made it all about him! Our message fell on deaf ears! Instead of killing those corrupt bastards as a statement, he made it just about mindless killing, completely undermining the message we were trying to send!" Weems spat as Batman started to walk away but paused.

"The sad part of it is, Weems, is that had it gone your way, the people still wouldn't have seen it as anything other than mindless killing." Batman replied before walking on towards the Batmobile, leaving Anarky to dangle as the sound of approaching police cars got louder.

* * *

 **10:55 PM  
Joker's Lair – Undisclosed Location**

The Joker Family had arrived at the abandoned warehouse some time ago and the Joker was just straightening his bowtie after changing back into his usual purple suit.

"Well kiddos, I'd say we mixed things up a bit for the election cycle! Don't know about you, but I think I'll stay out of politics in future. I mean I'm crazy but you'd have to be even crazier to run for office!" Joker commented with a chuckle, propping his feet up on a table.

"We really made Gotham squirm, didn't we, Uncle Joker?" Wild Card asked as Joker smiled towards her.

"That we did! You see, Willy, didn't I tell you we'd make the Batman pay for what he did to you?" Joker asked but Wild Card was confused.

"But Batman hasn't paid! He's still breathing! He's still sane!" she argued as Joker sat forward, taking his feet off the table and grinned towards her.

"Oh but he'll eventually snap. Every little joke I make, every little punchline I tell, brings old Bat-brain closer and closer to snapping. And when he does, I'll be an even happier clown than I am today. So just like with any good joke, it's all about timing. Sometimes the payoff for a good joke doesn't come right away, but when it does, that's when the results are the most gratifying. It's those moments when you don't get the joke right off, but over time, the joke suddenly makes sense. Batman will snap eventually, believe me, he will." Joker explained with a dark grin as Harley entered, putting her arms around Joker from behind.

"So what's the next plan, Uncle Joker?" Card asked.

"Well the Batfreaks will be out looking for us for sure so we'll need to stay low for now. Cozy up, kiddo. We're going to be here for a while." Joker said before running a hand through Harley's hair.

"As for you, Harl' how about a game of poker, Harley's rules?" Joker asked as Harley smiled seductively.

"Ooh Mista' J!" Harley squealed as Joker picked her up but paused when he noticed the coy smile Wild Card was shooting them.

"Hit the movies, kiddo. I might be a lunatic but I'm no perv. So no peeking. But since you're still low woman on the totem pole, go be a good girl and feed the hyenas will you?" Joker commented as he carried Harley off to a side room bridal style, leaving a not particularly disappointed Wild Card behind.

* * *

 **November 4th  
8:02 AM  
Batcave**

" _In the aftermath of the horrendous events of last night's election, the United States Government has officially declared the results null and void and a special election will be held in its place. However, with the revelation that Congressman John Hunter was murdered by the Joker and with a formal statement from the Ronson camp declaring that Candidate Ronson will not attempt a second run, it looks as if incumbent Mayor Hamilton Hill will be facing a no contest bid for reelection. In related news, the GCPD have apprehended domestic terrorist Karl Weems, the son of the late radical union representative Peter Weems. Karl Weems has been positively identified as the terrorist Anarky and was handed over to the FBI on charges of domestic terrorism. As for the perpetrator of the heinous murder of Congressman Hunter and his campaign staff, the Joker, Harleen Quinzel also known as Harley Quinn, and their accomplice Wilhelmina Carde, alias the Slender Woman or Wild Card, evaded police capture and remain at large."_ Vicki Vale reported on the morning news before Bruce closed the feed. Bruce scowled at the monitor for a moment before turning away just as Barbara came rolling in.

"Thought you'd want to know, FBI found Congressman Hunter's wife and family. They were in D.C. the entire time making the final arrangements for their move back to Gotham. They hadn't seen the Congressman for about two weeks. Autopsy reports that Hunter was killed a week ago so Joker must've gotten to him within that timeframe." Barbara said as Bruce got up from his chair.

"And the Joker gets away." Bruce said, scowling.

"We did all we could. Between Anarky and the Joker, we're lucky the casualty rate didn't get past twenty." Barbara said, earning a glare from Bruce, causing her to flinch slightly.

"As long as Joker is free. We can't assume the city is safe. Keep searching. Keep me apprised if the GCPD finds any traces of the Joker's whereabouts." Bruce ordered, Barbara giving a silent nod. She watched him as he headed up the stairs.

"You voted for Hunter too, didn't you?" she asked as Bruce paused for a moment before continuing up the stairs back into the manor.

In Bruce's mind he knew it was only a matter of time until Joker reared his acid-bleached head again but he privately wondered how badly Gotham would suffer for it.

* * *

 **To Be Continued…**

Well this was a fun story to write! Hopefully you enjoyed the story and will come back for more. Until then…

Keep R&Ring…

STT


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